


Sky that pours light, we stand under it.

by 24lovingsana



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-24 03:27:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 36,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17696783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/24lovingsana/pseuds/24lovingsana
Summary: There's this place that she loves because she gets to spend the entire summer with her two best friends; She thinks this place (not just the house, but the entire city) is magical because a lot of things have happened in it, and a lot more are about to happen over this summer.A love stor(ies)y but more than just that.





	Sky that pours light, we stand under it.

**Author's Note:**

> Towards the end there's a scene that may be hard for some of you guys to read so you should skip it if you're sensitive, it's pretty explicit  but not very long. It's written in italic and you'll know which one I'm talking about. Other than that, you're good to go. Enjoy!

She wishes she could be mad at her parents for being so in love with each other and for feeling the need and want to spend a big part of the summer together. But she can't. Because it's rare for your parents to live under the same roof and basically impossible to have them still love and be in love with each other. But Dahyun has that. And she can only smile and be happy for them when they tell her that she will spend most of the summer at her grandparent's. It's not really at her grandparent's because the two of them are alive in the entire meaning of the word so she expects them not to be around too much anyway.

Everything beautiful has something ugly attached to it and just like her entire family is happy  with a significant other, she's not. She's almost 20 years old and she hasn't dated anyone. For God's sake, her lips are still virgins. When this summer ends, college starts so she hopes she'll meet someone there. Or maybe this summer, because she's going to spend a lot of time with her best friends, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu (who have been dating for three years).

She hugs her parents and tells them to have fun before she jumps into her car and starts driving for five hours. She doesn't even need the GPS anymore because she knows the way to the house better than she knows herself. It's only the beginning of the summer so it's not that hot, a thing Dahyun is grateful for. She listens to music out loud and she thinks about a lot of things, and at the same time, about nothing at all. She makes a stop at a gas station to get some snacks (her parents wanted to buy some for her, but she refused) and she doesn't miss the way a girl is checking her out. She only looks at her for a brief second, seeing her bangs, nice lips and beautiful chocolate eyes. She also doesn't miss how muscular her arms are. Still, she buys a few snacks and hits the road again. She chuckles as her leg presses against the pedal, imagining God slapping his forehead in frustration because maybe the girl inside the store was her soulmate and Dahyun barely looked at her. But then again, you know when you meet your soulmate. Right?

Kim Dahyun hasn't dated anyone yet, but that doesn't mean she wants something simple. She stops at a red light, and the music stops playing, Tzuyu's contact profile picture showing up. The older girl answers the call and when the green light comes back up, Chaeyoung's voice can be heard in the car. It's a facetime call, her girlfriend, Tzuyu, holding the phone while the short haired girl, Chaeyoung, speaks out loud.

"Yo Kim Dahyun, how long until you arrive?"

"Like...two hours" Dahyun answers with a bright smile on her face because she is excited and can't wait to have those late night adventures with her two best friends, getting into trouble and getting themselves out of it, drinking and making memories together. She doesn't miss seeing them making out and hearing... stuff, but she does miss seeing them happy with each other in their little vacations. Every summer, Dahyun's parents travel around the world so she brings her friends over at her grandparent's (who are never really home) and they have fun for three months straight, with no worries around them. (ok Dahyun does worry that she will never find anyone to look at her the way Tzuyu looks at Chaeyoung or protect and take care of her the way Chaeyoung does with Tzuyu, but that thought is always there). "You?"

"Less than an hour, Tzuyu woke me up an hour sooner than what we had planned" Dahyun sees Chaeyoung making a funny face at her girlfriend, making the taller girl laugh. "Ok, well, anyway Tzuyu and I will have a drink and you'll give us a call when you arrive" 

"Sounds good"

Dahyun and Chaeyoung are extremely close. The kind of friends that push each other around while kissing each other's cheeks and messing up each other's hair. Making fun of each other, knowing each other's secrets. They've met in the first grade when some kids were making fun of Chaeyoung's drawing, calling her "weird". Six years old Chaeyoung stood up for herself, explaining how it's "pretty and different. It doesn't make it weird" but the kids only laughed at her again. So Dahyun stood up for her, making the other kids shut up. It's always better when there's two people fighting for the same thing. It's always better when it's the two of them together.

They have been friends ever since the first grade, going to the same middle and high school, where they met Tzuyu. Ever since ninth grade, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu started spending a lot of time together and the two of them got really close. Not once in her life has Dahyun been jealous of the taller girl (and the youngest) because she knew from the beginning that the kind of relationship she and Chaeyoung have is completely different from the kind of relationship Tzuyu and Chaeyoung have. Her two friends started dating in the summer of the ninth grade, Dahyun being the happiest for them, calling them "Chaeyu" once in a while.

She never found it weird that her two friends are dating and she's never told them to stop kissing or touching each other (mostly because those two were dating way before they became a couple, so it wasn't a surprise or something to get used to). Tzuyu is the one who tells, sometimes, her girlfriend to stop because even though Dahyun doesn't say anything, she knows there's pain in her heart. It's stupid, Tzuyu thinks. Dahyun had a lot of the girls and boys wrapped around her finger, everyone giggling whenever the beautiful girl waved at them. She was popular in her high school for... breathing. So yes, Tzuyu thinks it's stupid because Dahyun cries about not being in a relationship as if she didn't have a million occasions to be in one. It's like her conscious is waiting for someone. The youngest never mentions it to her.

Dahyun throws the rest of the snack into the bag, not enjoying the taste. She takes a sip of water, turning the volume of the song a little bit higher. It's a song from her favorite game, Life Is Strange, with the most beautiful soundtrack. She wishes she could have the great love story between the main characters (without the tragic ending), but she knows it's silly because this isn't fiction and stuff like that doesn't happen in real life. That's why movies, TV shows and games exist. So people can escape the world. And it's beautiful and sad at the same time. Or maybe some people just want to play some games.

She looks at the passenger seat next to her and groans, imagining holding someone's hand or just feeling their presence. Someone else that's not Chaeyoung who keeps fighting her over what songs to play or Tzuyu who barely talks. Someone who makes her feel things she's never felt before.

Before she knows it, she arrives at the destination. Something is different, though. She parks the car in her grandparent's garage and texts Chaeyoung that she's here but this feeling in her stomach, like almost butterflies, is still there. She puts the phone in her pocket before sitting on the chair and closing her eyes, trying to get rid of this damn feeling in her stomach, but it doesn't work. So she gets up from the chair and enters the house, being welcomed by her grandparents (who are surrounded by bags. She can't lie; she didn't think they'd leave this soon)

"Hey sweetie, there's money under the microwave, the sheets are changed, the refrigerator is full, the dog is fed and you can do anything you want. Throw a party if you want. By the way, we have new neighbors so you should introduce yourself to them sometimes." her grandmother says all at once. Dahyun kind of feels lonely and empty even if everything is "done" and "full", she feels lonely because her family takes good care of her but forgets how to be there with her.

"The new neighbors are both girls so no need to worry about having to deal with men" her grandfather chuckles, kissing his granddaughter's head. "I think they're your age, we only saw them for a few seconds when your grandmother gave them cookies. The only thing you and the girls have to do around the house is feed the dog, you don't even have to walk him, the yard is pretty big anyway" he chuckles again. "And tell Chaeyoung and Tzuyu that we moved a bed in the room they're always staying in because the other room is for liquors now, not because we're telling them to sleep in different beds." he says, making Dahyun cringe. "Feel free to use the new room but be careful darling" 

Her family is almost perfect, open minded and nice people. But then again, perfection doesn't really exist. They just don't spend a lot of time with Dahyun. Dahyun has spent more time with Chaeyoung in the first year of their friendship than she has spent with her grandparents. She only smiles at them because she doesn't have the heart to tell them that this is bothering her after everything they have done and are doing for her.

"Thank you. For everything. I mean it" Dahyun genuinely smiles, happy to see her grandparents so alive and happy together after more than 50 years of marriage. She hopes to have that, too, even though she's two years late because her grandparents started dating at 17 years old and they have been together ever since.

"No worries, love. Enjoy the time, we'll be back next month so no need to worry. We'll text you a few days before we arrive so you won't do anything too crazy" her grandmother smiles and pinches her soft cheeks, trying to get the luggage outside. Dahyun stops her and carries it for her.

"What a nice young lady. Just like we taught ya' " he ruffles her hair and Dahyun sends him a small smile. They didn't teach her shit.

She waves them goodbye, watching as they get into the cab, and sighs before going back inside and breaking the only rule; don't let the dog into the house. She opens the glass door, the white Labrador wiggling his tail, happy to see the only person who pays attention to him and leaves him out of his leash to make a mess in the flowers. Dahyun always buys new flowers and replaces them. It's not like she doesn't have enough money or like her grandmother notices. The flowers are there for the world's eyes anyway. She wishes she would have one of those grandmothers that give you flowers to give to your girlfriend, but instead she has that grandmother who does everything for you except give you the attention she needs. She always shrugs it off because it's not that bad and she's just making a big deal out of it. Others have it way worse.

Max jumps in her arms, almost knocking Dahyun off her feet. So she gently sits on the floor, her back pressed against the couch as Max lays down next to her, his tail still wiggling like crazy. As the pale girl pets his head, she thinks how both of them are going through the same thing. Both of them are living a good life, getting everything they want, except love. She doesn't know if it's a bad or good thing that she can relate to a dog. She loves this dog so she settles for good thing. She grew up with him more than she grew up with her family anyway.

Chaeyoung and Tzuyu arrive and the first thing they see is Dahyun on the floor, a thoughtful expression on her face while petting the dog. Max feels something so he suddenly gets up from the floor, ready to jump whoever is a threat to his best friend and owner. He sees his other two favorite people and his tail goes crazy again, jumping on them. He's being loved twice now, and Dahyun gets up from the floor, smiling at the sight in front of her. She greets Tzuyu with a hug and she does the hand thing with Chaeyoung (they shake hands in a very... Dahyun and Chaeyoung way)

"I don't know what it is but I feel like this summer will be different" Chaeyoung says all of a sudden, brushing past the dog to pour herself a glass of cold water.

Dahyun laughs. She says that every summer.

"Or at least I hope so. You guys want?" she mentions to the other two, both of them shaking their heads

"I get that feeling too" Tzuyu says instead, catching their attention "I think you're gonna get tanned for the first time in your life, " she looks at Dahyun who puffs, Chaeyoung almost choking on the water

"What's our plan for this summer? What's on your bucket list Chaeng?" Dahyun asks, sitting on the couch, Max's chin on her leg, asking for attention which Dahyun gives

Tzuyu gets a piece of paper out of her purse and gives it to Dahyun who sees Chaeyoung's writing on it.

  
_1.Get drunk/high, like always._

_2.Do the shit everyone does in the summer. Sing songs, dance in the rain, swim, have a bonfire and eat marshmallows, sleep in a tent, go fishing, see a movie in the drive in, dance the night away, play childhood games, go to the beach, backyard BBQ, water balloon fight, bla bla i'm lazy_

_3.Catch fireflies_

_4.Overcome a fear_

_5.Get Dahyun laid_

_6.Fall in love._

  
"Welp this went from 0 to a 100 then from 100 to 50 real quick" Dahyun looks back up at Chaeyoung who keeps watching her impatiently

"Yeah, well-" Chaeyoung starts speaking, sitting on a chair in the kitchen, looking at her best friend "Tzuyu and I have been speaking and we're gonna get you laid. The first part of the list is for the three of us, and for number five and six, we're just gonna help you out."

"What do you say?" Tzuyu asks when Dahyun gives no answer

With a sigh, she looks over the list one more time and licks her lips "Everything from one to five is possible. Five is a little scary but I want to. Six is something I wish for but not something that could...you know, happen just because I want it to. And you guys can't help me with that"

"Oh come _on_!" Chaeyoung groans "You had _so_ many girls and boys wrapped around your little finger, if _only_ you gave them a second look, you could've been in love _and_ dating right now but you're a whole ass dumbass" Chaeyoung puffs and Dahyun laughs. Her laugh gets caught in her throat when she thinks about the girl from the store. 

"Dahyun, all we're saying is that you give people a chance whenever we go out. If you give them a chance and you don't like them, give us a sign and we'll get you out of there since you're too nice to be mean unless you're defending us"

Dahyun looks at her and the sigh she gives out is enough of an answer for her friends because Chaeyoung starts jumping and the dog jumps with her, Tzuyu having a smile on her lips. 

They start unpacking their bags and Dahyun tells them about the bed in their room. The oldest finishes unpacking so she comes back into the kitchen to make some ramen for them tonight. Since all of them are tired from the long road and from the heat (it's so much hotter at her grandparents'), they decide to stay in for the night. Plus, they have three whole months to spend the time clubbing, getting drunk and all that. Once the ramen is done, she sees Max at the door so she opens the door, letting the dog outside the house, knowing he won't get out of the front yard.

She puts three bowls on the table in the living room  in front of the huge TV, the entrance door being opened for the fresh air to come inside. Her phone buzzes and she checks on it, seeing a new text from her mother. She opens the text and sees a selfie of her mom and dad, smiling widely with the caption "We have arrived! It's so much fun! We wish you could be here with us! Have fun with your girls!!" with a lot of extra emojis. She could almost get annoyed at the "We wish you could be here with us!" as if they ever asked her, but she genuinely didn't want to go them. The first times they started leaving without her, it hurt really bad, but she got used to the idea and plus, why would she want to spend time with someone who just ignores her? At least she's spending the summer with her best friends that actually give her more attention than her parents ever did. Dahyun sends her a "Have fun!" text with a red heart then locks the phone and puts it on the table, but not before she gives the picture another look and notices how bad it is. It looks so dark and unfocused. Her mother never knew how to take selfies.

She starts the Playstation four (that her grandparents bought for her when they heard her talking to Chaeyoung about wanting to play GTA) and gets ready Mario Kart and the two consoles for the couple to play. When the couple finish unpacking and they sit on the couch on either side of Dahyun, the pale girl gets out of the house, seeing Max sitting with his front legs against the fence. On the other side of the fence, there's a golden retriever sitting in the same way, their paws touching against the fence. She puts her hands on her hips and almost laughs at how pathetic it is that even they have more game than she ever had.

She looks at the house and sees all the lights out. She thinks her new neighbors like to party. Or maybe they're working, or they murdered each other and now they're both dead. Who knows. 

"Max come on, let's eat " she calls out after him. She watches as Max looks at her for a second, then looks at the other dog as if to say goodbye, before actually leaving with his head low. Dahyun pats him on his back and they get back inside, closing the door after them.

She realizes there's a song playing from Chaeyoung's phone. She immediately recognizes the song because she has had a lot of fights with the other girl over this damn, annoying song, that she keeps playing. It is "Sick of losing soulmates" by dodie.

"I am sick and tired of this song, Son Chaeyoung. Why do you keep listening to every single gay artist, is that your job?"

"Yes, and what are you going to do? Smash my phone? Smash my phone and I'll smash your ass ch-"

"Please do not finish that sentence" Dahyun makes a face at her friend before adding "My grandparents told me that we- they have new neighbors, and that they're about our age. They have a golden retriever and I think Max just fell for her. If it is a her, you do you buddy" Dahyun says the last part looking at the animal lying down on the cold floor with a sigh

"Mmm, when we get drunk we should invite them over. I mean, your grandpa did say we can use the liquor room" Chaeyoung speaks, mouth full of ramen. "By the way, this is amazing"

"I can see that" Dahyun chuckles, grabbing her own bowl. "Max, go eat, " she says gently, seeing the dog turn on the other side, his back towards her. "Ok grumpy ass," she murmurs as the takes the first bite of the food. "Yeah, cause that's how you make friends, you invite them over for the first time to get drunk" she finally addresses her best friend

Chaeyoung's eyes meet hers and something inside Dahyun breaks. She knows Chaeyoung isn't saying it for good reasons, but she knows what she's thinking. Dahyun's only friends are the couple and that's her own fault because she doesn't let people get close to her. She knows her best friend's eyes are saying "The last time you made the first step in becoming friends with someone else was with me. In the first grade. Tzuyu is our friend because of me and you only accepted her because you knew I liked her. And you liked her too. And you would've liked a lot of other people but you just rejected them before they even tried. Leave it to me. I know how to make friends. I have a lot of them.", ok maybe not with those words because the short haired girl would never be this rude to her, but it's...a part of what she would say.

Dahyun doesn't say anything. Instead, they try to focus on the movie that no one knows what's about. After they finish eating, Tzuyu gets up to clean the dishes and the other two begin playing Mario Kart. They're not actually playing to win, they're playing to talk, which is something they did a lot during their childhood.

"I made a new friend three weeks ago, during the exams" Chaeyoung starts the conversation to which Dahyun doesn't say anything because she doesn't know what she's supposed to say or what it even means. Chaeyoung has a lot of friends, why is she talking about this one specifically? "Her name is Mina. She's the kind of person you don't see me hanging out with, but there's just something different about her."

Dahyun's eyes are about to jump out of her head at the confession, her head snapping towards her best friend, the princess in the game being left behind. She loves her best friend a lot but she would beat her ass if she ever-

"Not like that, stupid!" Chaeyoung realizes what it sounded like "I love Tzuyu with my entire heart, I would never do that to her. And you damn well know I don't even have eyes for anyone else" she says, Dahyun realizing that she's right. "I meant it like, I don't hang out with people like her, but she was cool. You know I like loud and crazy people but she's so quiet and soft-"

"You're literally dating a quiet and soft person, what do you mean you like crazy and loud people?" Dahyun interrupts her, laughing

"You know what the fuck I mean, I love all kinds of people but I prefer the loud ones" Chaeyoung laughs along, getting first place in the game because of Dahyun thinking something else of Chaeyoung's new friend. They start another game. "I just get along with her and I feel a connection with her, like we were supposed to meet and be friends. Even Tzuyu liked her right along and you know how long it takes her to like someone. She's just really genuine and precious."

Dahyun thinks about the stranger with the bangs at the store, about how she felt a connection with her. It wasn't sexually, and she didn't feel like she was attracted to her. Just a connection. She felt like they know each other. Maybe in another life because she never looked at a person for too long to have a clear picture of them in her head.

"Get to the point, coconut head"

"Call me that again and I'll burn your tofu ass" Chaeyoung threatens, both of them ending up laughing, as always. "The point is, she knows you. I mean, she saw you a couple of times. If you would have opened your eyes, you would've noticed her too but you're too busy day dreaming about being in a relationship when you could be in one." Dahyun puffs because her younger girl is once again, right. "The last time Mina and I met, she asked me about you. I knew she liked you because to be honest she wasn't even trying to hide her curiosity about you. So I asked her if she like you, and she said she's not the one who is into her, so she has a friend who is into you."

"What's up with you and plot twists today?" Dahyun asks, the short story being a roller coaster

"Just shut up and listen to me, stop interrupting me, Jesus Christ!" Chaeyoung sighs in frustration, Tzuyu coming out of the kitchen to sit next to her girlfriend who kisses her on the cheek, Max moving from one spot on the floor to another. "She showed me a picture of her friend, she's gorgeous."

"Mmm, she really was" Tzuyu says, immediately realizing what they were talking about "She has bangs-"

Dahyun's mind immediately goes to the stranger in the store, blocking out whatever description Tzuyu was giving. So she missed Tzuyu saying "She had bangs at the time"

"But the thing is, I told Mina that you're not looking for a relationship and she never mentioned it again, which I kind of hoped she would have considering how desperate you are to be in one now"

"Fuck off, I'm not desperate. I just simply want to be in one" she pushes her friend, annoyed by her choice of words

"Right." Chaeyoung chuckles. "So, do you want me to text her and ask her about that friend of hers?"

"No, God damn it, Chaeyoung just let it happen. If it happens, it happens. I don't want you or Tzuyu or whoever to make me meet someone. If it happens, it happens"

"Ok, miss-reading-too-many-fanfictions" Chaeyoung mumbles, her girlfriend slapping her thigh

The game continues, Tzuyu going against Chaeyoung (who somehow loses all the games against her even though she won all the ones against Dahyun) and then Tzuyu playing against their older friend, and she loses most of the games against her. Dahyun looks at the watch on her wrist, a gift from her father. 10pm.

"Since it's our first day here, you guys could go on a date or something. I wanna watch my shows and spend some time with Max anyway"

"For real?" You won't get mad?" Chaeyoung asks happily

"No, of course not. Go, have fun. Have sex and perhaps don't whenever I'm in the other room."

The truth is, Dahyun doesn't want to be left alone. The couple just came from a holiday together and she's been alone the entire time, so she doesn't want to be alone again. But she knows they have months to spend together so she thinks they deserve this one night all alone.

"Not gonna happen" Chaeyoung kisses her friend's head, Tzuyu already running up the stairs to change. "Not when I love my beautiful girlfriend and we are on a vacation" she continues, following her girlfriend up the stairs, in their own room

Dayhun chuckles and shakes her head, getting herself some ice cream to eat. She walks outside in the back yard and Max lazily follows her, still pissed at his owner.

"What's up, are you heart broken buddy?" she asks, making him sigh as if he understands what she's saying

Chaeyoung and Tzuyu yell their "See you later" to Dahyun who waves them goodbye before focusing on the dog once again.

"You're the only man I trust and you're the first one to know this so don't you dare tell this story to anyone else, not even your crush on the other side of the fence." she laughs at herself. "But I had my heart broken, once in my life. Chaeyoung and Tzuyu think that I don't give attention to people and they're right, but they don't know the reason why. I used to go to church when I was a child. When I was 11, I went to church for Christmas because I knew the church's choir would be singing Christmas songs. There was this group of kids my age and there was this one girl in the front, with a red sweater with Rudolph on it and his nose was sticking out of the sweater. She kept looking me in the eyes and I got shy but I kept smiling back at her and looking down for a second before looking back at her. She was so cute, she kept blushing and doing the same thing I was doing. She tried not to look at me anymore because you could hear the smile in her voice when she was singing, but she kept finding my eyes. I remember she had this one friend next to her, she had bangs, but at the same time, everyone had bangs around then. Even she had bangs."

Dahyun takes another bite of the ice cream, smiling at the memory. It happened eight years ago and she knew she wouldn't recognize the girl if she saw her right now. If this was a fanfiction, she would, but she smiles sadly. It isn't.

"I know I'll never see her again and even I do see her, I won't be able to recognize her" she speaks her thoughts out loud. "But it is nice to dream, though. And it's really dumb but I kept ignoring everyone else because I had hoped to meet her again. But maybe it's time to let her go the idea of her. I don't even know her, what is she has a horrible personality? So that's my number one on my bucket list of this summer. To let go of the pretty stranger"

Max looks up at her, his tongue hanging out of his mouth and Dahyun laughs at him when he tilts his head.

"Oh, you're wondering about the broken heart part? Well, I never saw her again. And I was so excited about Christmas but I still felt like something was missing"

Dahyun sighs and stops eating, not knowing if her brain hurts from the memory or from eating really cold ice cream so quickly. She hears something moving on the other side of the big fence, on the new neighbors' yard. She thinks it's just the dog when she sees Max's tail going crazy so she doesn't think about it too much. Instead, she gets up from the chair and goes to the pool, only to feel the chilly water. She smiles, thinking about all the hours she, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu have spent in this pool, talking, making fun of each other and just being happy together. 

She falls asleep at 1am and dreams of waking up to sunlight hitting her room and hitting a beautiful girl's brown eyes, sitting next to her in bed, watching her with a lazy smile on her lips. The moment the girl's hands touch her cheek in the dream, she wakes up to sunlight hitting the empty space on her bed and to Chaeyoung's loud music coming from downstairs.   
She wakes up (annoyed at the fact that the couple came home after 1am and still woke up at 10am) and does her mourning routine, changing into a t-shirt and shorts. She goes downstairs, Max licks her hands and it makes her but she washes her hands once again in the bathroom from downstairs. She finally reaches the kitchen, but doesn't get inside.

Instead, she stops and looks at Chaeyoung making pancakes with Tzuyu, dancing around in the kitchen, music blasting out loud but their voices can still be heard. She feels her heart warming at the sight, a soft smile spreading across her face that never really reaches her eyes but breaks into a laugh regardless when Tzuyu picks up Chaeyoung and spins her around, forgetting about dancing to the beat of the song.

The couple notice Dahyun and they make their way towards her on the beat of the song, grabbing her by the hand, not having to ask her twice about joining them because Dahyun loves dancing. The three of them dance together in their own house. They call it that sometimes because they've lived in this house more than Dahyun's grandparents who moved here around 10 years ago but are gone most of the time and the three of them have been spending all the summer breaks in this house for the past five years. They got drunk for the first time in this house. Chaeyoung confessed to Tzuyu here. Their first kiss was in this house. When they both became adults, their first time was here. Dahyun said they might as well call this house Hogwarts since all the magic happens here.

They dance until their feet hurt, the pancakes being placed on a plate while dancing. Even Max joins them at some point, wiggling his tail. Chaeyoung says he's doing it to the beat of the song even though he's doing it way too quickly for him to be matching so the short girls plays dubstep and it finally matches, making their stomachs ache from laughing.

It finally stops when the music becomes a background sound. While eating, and throwing Max a few pancakes, they make the plan for today which basically is, shopping, eating outside, then visiting the stalls around the beach. And maybe a party tonight. The first stop is shopping for clothes which is gonna go up to three - four hours, knowing the three of them.

  
\---------

  
"Fuck me and my short legs but this is exhausting"

"Fuck me and my long legs but this is exhausting"

"Fuck me and my normal legs but this is exhausting. Why did we go shopping around this hours when we _knew_ it would take us half of the day to finish 'cause we can never just buy a few things"

They bought a lot of clothes, food, toys for Max, a new bowl for him, a fluffy blanket for when it's cold outside. They also bought matching earrings and Chaeyoung and Tzuyu bought matching rings, too. Dahyun joked around, saying that they are now officially married, but all three of them know this won't be a joke one day.

"It's ok, think about the drinks we'll have tonight" Tzuyu simply says, the three of them resting on the couch in the middle of the mall

"Tzuyu, Chaeyoung?"

The three of them stop complaining and look towards the two girls calling their name. Only Dahyun and God knows how many times they went through the same thing; their names being called while Dahyun feels awkward and doesn't know what she's supposed to do since she doesn't know them. There's an explanation for why she doesn't want to meet anyone in the romantic way, (or there was an explanation since she's trying to give up on the pretty stranger) but there's no reason for her not to make any new friends. She used to be so friendly but now she thinks that two friends are more than enough and she's blessed to have them.

"Oh my God!" Chaeyoung exclaims, jumping from the couch and into the girls' arms who happily hug her right back

"Hey guys" Tzuyu shyly waves at them but they also pull her into the hug

Once they settle down, Dahyun awkwardly waves at them, one of the girls smiling at her.

"Hi, I'm Jeongyeon and this is Nayeon" the blonde with short hair says before making a sign towards the shorter girl with bunny teeth and brown hair who smiles and waves back at her

"Dahyun" she simply sais and Chaeyoung sends her a look but the other two keep smiling

The conversation between the four of them keeps going, Jeongyeon asking them how come they're here, catching up with each other, while Dahyun doesn't listen because she doesn't really care.

"Ok, well, I'll text you and we'll go out sometimes. Dahyun, you too" Jeongyeon tells the pale girl who smiles at her

They say their goodbyes and then the three friends make their way back to the car and back to the house. They immediately let Max out of the house and they start unpacking the bags of new clothes and the toys for the dog which he happily takes and runs outside the house, maybe to show them to his crush. They sit in the back yard after they finish unpacking, Chaeyoung being in the pool.

The short haired girl tells Dahyun how they met Jeongyeon and Nayeon at a party and how they thought they were dating but apparently weren't and they had the "ew! Her? No way" reaction at the assumption but they both, to this day, think they are perfect for each other and they should be dating. Dahyun agrees, making her friends happy with her opinion. She then speaks on and on and on about how there was tension before the two of them the entire night, how they exchanged numbers with the "not couple" and how many more nights they spent together. They got so close that they started going out whenever they could, not only on nights. When Dahyun's friends told Jeongyeon and Nayeon they are dating, they saw something sparkling between the two of them before they actually had a reaction and congratulated them, kissing their heads and telling them to make each other happy and take care of each other. Months have passed and they realized how different their relationships with each other are; Jeongyeon and Nayeon make fun of each other and tease each other non-stop (but they also have soft moments) while Tzuyu is the softest with Chaeyoung and vice versa (but they also have their making fun of each other and teasing moments). They're not the same but they decide it matches perfectly.

Dahyun grows tired of hearing stories about people she doesn't really care about, even though the story about them does warm her heart. She gets up from the chair and moves to get ice cream when she hears something fall in the back yard. She doesn't move faster but she does look towards it and she sees _two_ dogs, running happily one after the other. Her jaw drops, realizing the new neighbors' dog jumped over the big fence and she doesn't even get to have a reaction because someone is ringing the door. She leaves the ice cream on the kitchen table and goes to open the door. When she opens it, Jeongyeon and Nayeon show up.

They seem just as shocked because the blonde's girl mouth slowly closes, the words stopping in her throat. Both of them tilt their heads on the left part at the same time and Dahyun thinks it's adorable. She thinks maybe it's time to make a change. A smile appears on her face at the sight and it snaps both of them back to reality.

"Uhm, hi Dahyun. So I don't know how to say this but our dog jumped over the fence into your yard and oh my god I just realized you're living here"

"Hi Jeongyeon, I've noticed your dog in our yard" she looks over her shoulder where the two of them follow her gaze and see their dog playing with the Labrador next door, hearing Chaeyoung's loud laugh in the background. "And I can't believe _you_ guys are my new neighbors." she turns back at them. "Come on in, Chaeng's been talking about you guys for the past hour."

Jeongyeon and Nayeon share a look, thinking how the girl the met before is not the nice girl that they are seeing right now. They shrug it off and think that maybe the stories from Chaeyoung made her more comfortable with them.

"Can I get you guys something to drink?"

"Uh, a glass of water please" Nayeon says while Jeongyeon politely declines

After Nayeon takes a few sips of the water, they follow the pale girl into the back yard, Chaeyoung's jaw dropping when she notices them. Even Tzuyu looks shocked. Chaeyoung jokes around about them being stalkers but it bites her in the ass later on because her jaw drops once again when Dahyun tells her they're the new neigbors.

And so they talk. Dahyun talks a lot with them. It makes them nod because the conversation is serious, it makes them scared because the story is thrilling and it makes them laugh until they have tears in their eyes and Jeongyeon's arm hurts from all the punches she has been getting from Nayeon. Dahyun makes a good second impression on them (they were going to be friends with her even if she was still awkward) and it leaves Chaeyoung and Tzuyu surprise because...what the fuck.

They tell them they want to visit the stalls by the beach and Dahyun, taking them by surprise, asks them if they want to tag along, to which both of the girls immediately say yes. They go to their own houses and start getting ready, taking their dog with them, whose name is Sasha, they later find out.

"So...what was that?" Chaeyoung asks once the door is closed and of course Dahyun knows what the question is about

"When they showed up they did this cute titling head thing at the same time in the same direction and I smiled. Like, genuinely smiled. And I thought you know what, time to change some things"

"Oh my God!" Chaeyoung exclaims, running to hug her best friend. "This makes me so happy, you have no idea! I knew that you would get along with them, they both have a great sense of humor and I wanted you to meet them so bad for so long but you didn't and I know you'd get along to a lot of my friends, _Dahyun_ , you could have so many good ass friends if you would just talk to mine, they're all amazing and you'd love them and they'd love you" she says it all in one breath, making the other two girls laugh

"Ok babe, she has time for all your other friends, this is a big step. We're proud of you, Dahyun. They're amazing people and you made a great impression. Like you always do."

Tzuyu's words make Dahyun feel something and she's suddenly jumping in a group hug which makes all three of them giggle. Suddenly, this is Dahyun's favorite summer in a really long time. She almost feels alive.

  
\---------

  
"Why did you keep yourself from us for _so_ long, God I needed a friend as funny as you" Nayeon throws an arm around Dahyun's neck making the shorter girl realize that her new friend is a touchy one.

"Hey I'm right here" Jeongyeon pouts and Nayeon looks to her right, where the girl is, her gaze falling to her lips in an instant

"You're a dreamer, you dream a lot" she tells her, making the younger girl laugh

"She's also not just a friend" Chaeyoung mumbles, making Tzuyu giggle

"Hey guys, I just wanted to apologize for how... mean I might've looked at the mall today. I...don't know why but I didn't want to have any new friends, I just felt like Chaeyoung and Tzuyu were enough which they are but it wouldn't hurt to have other friends.  So, I'm sorry if I was mean, I really didn't mean to" 

"That's ok, kiddo, don't worry. Just like Chaeyoung told you a lot about us, she told us a lot about you so we knew you'd be that cold. And you don't have to worry, I know you used to be friendly and you were afraid you didn't have it in you anymore, but trust me, you still do. And I know you're an amazing person" she ruffles her hair which makes Dahyun happy because she does that to Chaeyoung and that's what friends do.

Nayeon smiles softly at Jeongyeon and they send each other meaningful looks. Chaeyoung still doesn't know how they get from pushing each other to _this_. 

"And maybe I'm touchy and we're already talking like we've known each other our entire lives but it's only because we know a lot about you from Chaeng and also because we're close to them and they're close to you so you're close to us. But if the touching thing bothers you, tell us and we'll stop. Or whatever"

"Aw look at you being soft and nice for the third time in your life, uwu what a cutie" Jeongyeon pinches her cheeks while talking to her like she's talking to her baby. She's just teasing her but it doesn't make her heart not beat like crazy. But then again, Nayeon truly is her baby. 

"Shut up before I throw you off this bridge, Yoo Jeongyeon" Nayeon shoves her head away before she can feel the skin grow hot under her touch

That's exactly what Chaeyoung means.

"Don't worry, I, uhm, like it as it is. I like it like it is now" Dahyun speaks up after a few seconds of silence because what the fuck was that, Nayeon and Jeongyeon?

She looks at Nayeon and studies her. She sees her round face, her cute nose and eyes, and her heart shaped lips, she can feel the vanilla scent coming out of her hair. She then looks at Jeongyeon, noticing her sharp jawline, her blonde hair tucked behind her ears, her round eyes and small face, her cute little nose and her plump lips. She missed making new friends - knowing someone different from Chaeyoung and Tzuyu. She regrets being awkward and cold for such a long time. She's happy she's not wasting any more time, though.

Nayeon smiles gently at her, her bunny teeth showing. Jeongyeon smiles softly at her. Dahyun looks over her shoulder at the couple holding hands behind them, looking at the sea, and she feels happy. Really happy.

  
\---------

  
They have been buying things for over an hour now, going stall by stall. As soon as they're done shopping, Chaeyoung wins Tzuyu a rainbow teddy bear, finally taking a break after a hard work. But Tzuyu is so happy she's kissing her in public which she rarely does because she kind of hates PDA, and it's all worth it. (Chaeyoung loves PDA so Tzuyu gives up a lot. She's only human and her girlfriend happens to be the cutest person.) Jeongyeon buys Nayeon a ring with a "J" on it and Nayeon buys Jeongyeon a ring with an "N" on it. They share shy smiles before Jeongyeon tells her "You're so fucking cheesy" (she doesn't add "I love it.") to which Nayeon responds "You literally bought it first!" (she doesn't add "I would've been the one buying it for you and have you call me cheesy because I know it means a lot to you but you saw it first so here we are"). Dahyun almost buys herself a bracelet but Jeongyeon and Nayeon stop her. The couple stops walking, Tzuyu having an arm around the shorter girl's neck, looking up at them, a confused expression on her face.

"This bracelet" Jeongyeon says, showing off her own bracelet, Nayeon also showing it (it's a bracelet with white beads and a heart, having the initials "JNJ" and a date on it) "I bought it on my own. A few days later, Nayeon also bought it on her own, without seeing mine. Our other friend, her name is Jihyo, bought it on her own and one day we all went out to eat and saw we all have the same bracelet. So we went and we wrote our initials on the heart: Jeongyeon, Nayeon and Jihyo'' and the day we met, imprimated on it"

Dahyun's heart warms at the cuteness of it. This is what she wants. Spontaneous stuff and adorable things like theirs. Things that she doesn't have to plan or force.

"What Yoo Jeongyeon is trying to say is that none of us had any idea the other had it so...we want to buy you this for you because maybe someone else has it. You never know. And what's the harm in wearing a simple bracelet?"

Jeongyeon smiles at the way Nayeon says her full name in public as if she doesn't call her "Jeongyeonnie" when it's just the two of them. Dahyun lets them buy the moon bracelet for her, hoping she'll meet someone with the sun bracelet. 

All five of them have dinner together at a fancy restaurant. They talk about their parents, school, especially since the three of them are at the same college and Dahyun later finds out her new friends are apparently  also at the same college, Dahyun teasing Chaeyoung about how she applied for that college just to be with them. Nayeon tells her that most of her best friends are also there, Jihyo included. They talk about Jihyo and the younger girl finds out she is also spending the summer here so Dahyun tells them maybe they should all hang out together. They keep talking, forgetting the time, and they realize it's too late to go at a club. No club could compare to the time they spent together anyway.

Dahyun offers to pay for dinner and Nayeon and Jeongyeon know she's rich but they don't let her pay for everything. They do the math (which is fucking hard, thank God for Jeongyeon who worked at a bakery) and they all pay equally. 

They drive back home, they say their goodbyes, and they fall asleep immediately. 

Dahyun dreams of pure happiness and of holding someone's hand who has a sun bracelet. She wakes up to an empty bed and her own bracelet on her wrist which she takes off because she wants to take a shower. Once she's done, she goes downstairs and after feeding Max, she makes breakfast for herself and for her friends. They wake up past 11am and are surprised to see their best friend so happy and excited. There's a light glowing over her head. It's not that strong and it can't blind you yet, but it's there. And it's something.

Chaeyoung looks over at Tzuyu and sees the light there. It's strong and it can blind you. She's sure Tzuyu can also see it above her.

(She can. She does)

  
\---------

  
Dahyun calls Jeongyeon around 12pm and asks her what her plans for today are. When she doesn't get an actual answer, she tells her to pack a lot of food and get a tent because they'll have a bonfire at the beach tonight and they'll sleep inside the tents. She also tells her they should bring Jihyo and their other three best friends if they want to. Chaeyoung and Tzuyu are surprised and so happy to see their friends like this. Like her old self. It's like Dahyun is starting to remember herself. They don't worry about her getting close to her new friends and growing apart from them because they just know that it will never happen. A few minutes later, Dahyun texts her new friend and tells her to bring Sasha, too.

So by 6:30pm, the five of them are currently getting their bags out of the cars, bringing them to the beach. Because it's only the beginning of summer, it's still really bright outside even at this hour so the lights on the bridge close to the beach can't be seen yet. Dahyun pouts because she loves the night's lights. She just has to wait a little longer.

7pm is the time Jeongyeon told the others to be there. Dahyun is a little bit nervous; she hopes she can become friends with them, too. Chaeyoung notices that, so she grabs her hand and smiles when their eyes meet. At exactly 7:09pm, the other four friends arrive. They get out of the car and Dahyun with Jeongyeon are the first ones to help them with their bags. Jeongyeon is a little bit ahead of Dahyun because the silver haired girl slows down. She just remembered she doesn't know these people and she gets nervous once again. She sees a girl with purple hair and a bright smile. Something about that smile makes Dahyun calm down.

"Hi I'm Jihyo, nice to meet you"

"I'm Dahyun, nice to meet you, too". Jeongyeon smiles at two of her friends meeting. Dahyun looks her way and the blonde smiles. _It's ok._

"Hey Dahyun, I know we just met but can you help me out a bit? This thing is heavy"

"I'll help you with that, Dahyun go on something easier" Jeongyeon sends her a look, her words holding more than just one meaning.

(Dahyun is so grateful for Jeongyeon she could kiss her right now but Nayeon would kill her and she doesn't want to die young.)

So she moves on to the other girl, ready to greet her, when she notices she's already looking at her. The pale, black haired girl with plump lips and many moles on her face (it's like a constellation, Dahyun thinks. It's _so_ pretty. Dahyun likes stars) has an expression on her face that's hard to read and it doesn't make Dahyun feel any better.

"Hey I'm-"

"Dahyun" the black haired girl blurs out, not letting the other girl finish. "I mean, I- I heard you introducing yourself to Jihyo. I'm Mina, nice to meet you. You're Chaeyoung's friend" she simply states

"Yeah, that's me" Dahyun awkwardly laughs and she curses herself for being like this again

"No, sorry it's just...never mind" she simply waves herself off.  "You're really awkward" she states once again, Dahyun cringing at her words. "Thank God, finally someone as awkward as me in this group of friends. Could you please help me with the tent?" 

She immediately calms down at the words leaving the girl's mouth and almost lets out a laugh of relief, but she keeps it in and helps the girl with the tent. She doesn't know how but Mina is somehow more awkward than she is. Chaeyoung's eyes grow big when she sees Dahyun helping _her_ and her heart drops. She had no idea Mina is friends with Jeongyeon and Nayeon. She knows shit's about to go down somehow. She doesn't mean it in a good way 'cause even if shitting is a good thing-

"Chaeng, go help the others, what's up with you?" Nayeon scolds her

Mina and Chaeyoung hug all of a sudden and after letting the tent on the sand, it all clicks for Dahyun. This is _Chaeyoung's_ Mina. _The_ Mina she was telling her about the other day. _The_ Mina who was a _friend_ who has a _crush_ on _her_. She suddenly wants to go home and not get out of her room for a week because this friend of _Mina's_ is about to fuck up all her chances into finding that person who's wearing the sun bracelet.

(It kind of becomes a symbol for her. She believes in it now, she just hopes she doesn't believe in it too much that she'll pay more attention to the bracelet than to the chances of actually finding her person.)

She turns around to run towards her car or to a store or _something_ and when she does turn around, she sees a girl with bangs. More exactly, _the_ girl with bangs from the store. The one who was checking her out. Her jaw almost drops but it can't because it's so tight she think she's about to break all her fucking teeth because something in this girl brings back something _else_ than just the store at the gas station. A distant memory and it makes her mad because she doesn't know what it is. Over her shoulder she can see some movement and she sees another girl coming behind her with two bags in her left hand and two bags in her right hand.

Her jaw suddenly softens and even the girl with the bangs sees something in her eyes change. She becomes so soft, the girl with bangs thinks she might as well melt. And she's sure it's not because of the sun. Not the one in the sky, at least. Dahyun's eyes search for the last girl's eyes and when they meet, she regrets looking for her eyes in the first place. Her legs feel weak, her heart is beating so fast she can't hear anything else but her heartbeat, her hands begin to sweat and she can't even blink because she's scared that if she does, the girl in front of her might disappear. The sun kissed black haired girl with a sharp nose and small cute lips, round glasses on her eyes, stares right back at Dahyun and it looks like she's going through the same thing because she looks like she's about to drop those bags any minute now and seeing her lips softly part kicks something in Dahyun because her body is moving before her brain can even process what is going on and she's moving towards the last girl, taking all four bags into her hands. She realizes how close she is to her and she almost drops the bags herself.

There's a loud sound behind them that makes the dogs and all of them, except Tzuyu jump because of it and they can hear Jeongyeon scolding Nayeon while holding her hand and saying "You idiot, I told you I'd take it myself!", seconds before Jeongyeon kisses the spot. Jihyo tries not to laugh at them. Dahyun gives the bags to Chaeyoung who lets out a sigh. The pale girl looks at the new girl one more time before she goes to see what's going on with Nayeon. She regrets making this decision because the older girl is complaining about her wasted nail polish instead of the pain. Jeongyeon rolls her eyes and lightly hits her head before taking some ice and putting it on the first three fingers of her left hand.

"Ok, let's keep it going kiddos" Jeongyeon says after she leaves Nayeon with Tzuyu "I swear that woman is going to be the death of me" she mumbles to herself

"In more ways than one" Jihyo says on the same tone

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jeongyeon immediately says, Jihyo sending her look

"Are you really going to play _that_ old card with _me_? Jeongyeon, I've known you my entire life. Both of you. You _cannot_ lie to me. I know what's going on in that big heart of yours. I just wish you guys would speak to me about it so I can help you out since you are two idiots who can't get with... _it_ already. Just...do something about it Jeongyeon. Before it's too late"

Jeongyeon's heart drops at the entire sentence, especially at the last part. She sends Jihyo a look who just shrugs. The blonde girl looks at Dahyun and sees her coming towards them, so she tells Jihyo to knock it off. The two of them move back to the beach to leave the things there.

The things is, Jeongyeon already did something about it. And if it was scary before, it's terrifying now and she can't even talk to anyone about it because only Nayeon knows and she can't talk to Nayeon about...Nayeon.

"Hey, I'm Momo. I...didn't get the chance to say my name back then" the girls with the bangs says, putting her hands in her back pockets

Dahyun gulps and nods, looking into her pretty eyes. It's the stranger from the store.

"Yeah...I, uhm, I got distracted by Nayeon. Sorry, I'm Dahyun."

"No need to be sorry, I just wanted to introduce myself" Momo sends her a look and lick her lips before she bites on the bottom one, looking like a lost puppy at her. "I'm sorry, do we...do we know each other?"

"I don't think we do but I also feel like I know you from somewhere I just can't...I can't put my finger on it" she says as they both get lost in thought with furrowed brows

"You mean you know me from somewhere else than the store?" Momo giggles and it makes Dahyun blush at how adorable the girl is but she finds the strength to nod

"Put your finger on that tent and let's get these last things on the beach" Jeongyeon says to Dahyun who simply nods

Once they're done,  Dahyun sees the last girl sitting on her knees in front of Nayeon, making the older girl laugh. The last girl feels a pair of eyes on her. or maybe she feels something only for that pair of eyes because Jeongyeon and Momo are also looking at her but she doesn't look at them. She looks at her. Their eyes meet and Dahyun forgets everything, for the second time in the last five minutes and it's because of the same reason. The same girl. She sees her getting up from her position and she suddenly gets nervous (truthfully, she's been nervous this entire time ever since she and the last girl have locked eyes.)

She watches as she approaches with a soft smile, her hands clasped before her. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear before she finally stops in front of her. 

"Hey, I'm Sana." she looks into her eyes for a few seconds that feel like minutes before she adds "Nice to _finally_ meet you". The way she emphasizes the word "finally" and the fact that she says it in the first place, starts a fire inside of Dahyun and all of a sudden she feels like she's home.

Chaeyoung looks at the two of them and over Sana's shoulder, Dahyun meets her eyes. This is the friend Mina was talking about.

"What do you mean, "finally" meet me?"

Sana tilts her head on one side and Dahyun thinks her head tilt is so much cuter than Nayeon and Jeongyeon's combined. Even cuter than Max's or Momo's. The cutest. The cutest cutie. She's adorable. Her smile is warm and it screams "Little do you know" and "I'm going to steal your heart" and once again, it starts something else inside of Dahyun.

"Nothing much, just that Jeongyeon and Nayeon have been mentioning you a lot. Hi Dahyun" she giggles and Dahyun blushes at how adorable her giggle is. Is everything about this girl adorable?

Dahyun jumps at the way she says her name. Like she's heard her own name coming out of the stranger's mouth before. In another life, perhaps because she does not know this girl. If she did, she would have recognized a face like her's.

Dahyun gulps because there is something about Sana saying her name without Dahyun introducing herself, even if Mina did the same thing. And the way she said it. God, the way she said it. She makes Dahyun want to fall on her knees and she just met this girl. She decides the way her names rolls off Sana's lips is her favorite thing. That annoying smirk isn't helping at all. It's like Sana knows something Dahyun doesn't and it pisses her off in the most amazing way.

"Hey Sana." she breaths out "I'm Dahyun" she says anyway and apparently, she can't think, speak or breathe properly

"I know" Sana simply giggles "We should go back to the girls. Before they drag us there to do what we have to do" she speaks softly and her voice melts Dahyun's heart

The shorter girl simply nods and goes back to the group of friends, helping them place everything into place. They start with the tents because it takes the longest and it's the most important, even thought they put the beers in ice before anything else. Even so, Dahyun can't take her mind off Sana. Everything about her is so soft and precious and the fact that their eyes meet every once in a while isn't helping her. 

(She forgets all about the bracelets)

"Can we go swimming later? Please" Mina asks Jeongyeon once all of the tents are done

"Yeah, just not if we're drunk. We should get drunk after we get into the water"

Nayeon doesn't like how close Mina and Jeongyeon look right now. Like they're about to make out any second now; Mina having her hand on Jeongyeon's arm and Jeongyeon having a hand around her waist. Momo also hates how close those two are. _They_ were supposed to be that close.

"Then how about we go swimming now, before we even eat? Jihyo suggests, getting up from the chair next to Chaeyoung and Tzuyu, whom she adores as a couple but as individuals too.

So they take their clothes off, Dahyun mumbling something about how "I just met her 15 minutes ago and I'm getting half naked in front of her" but she lets her eyes wonder on her body and she catches Sana doing the same. Both of them blush and Dahyun doesn't care because at least that smirk of hers is gone and they're both a blushing mess now. She realizes that's not that much better.

When they get into the water, they all couple up. Dahyun with Chaeyoung and Tzuyu, Jihyo with Jeongyeon and Nayeon and Sana with Mina and Momo. It doesn't last too long before Chaeyoung and Tzuyu start acting all couple-y or until Jihyo realizes her two best friends might want some alone time (she can almost hear Jeongyeon lying "I just wanted to scold her for getting hurt" as if she would ever scold her for something that she didn't do on purpose or as if she won't be kissing her ass after scolding her or as if Jihyo doesn't know any better than her lies about Nayeon) and Sana knows the mess between her two best friends. So Jihyo, Dahyun and Sana couple up. And once again it's awkward because there's something going on with these two. And Jihyo is about to swim with the sharks or something.

After more than 30 minutes in the water, by Jihyo's orders, they get out and dry themselves with the towels. Dahyun notices that Jihyo is the "leader" of this group and she couldn't picture anyone else from this group of friends that would fit the position better than her. Her respect and appreciation for Jihyo can only grow. They get dressed and Jeongyeon gets behind Nayeon to wrap a towel around her shoulders, hugging her from behind. The older one almost runs off because she's scared that her friend can feel her heartbeat but she doesn't. Jihyo smiles at the two of them, then shakes her head, just like everyone else besides Mina. Momo notices that and she's had enough. She gently grabs Mina's hand and drags her towards an empty restaurant, going straight to the bathroom.

"What's your problem with Nayeon and Jeongyeon?"

What do you mean?" Mina speaks calmly even if Momo's tone is really annoying

"Don't play stupid with me, you know what I mean. Everytime they even look at each other, you look at them and you have this...this weird ass look on your face. Everytime they hold hands, you look like you're in pain. You're so close to Jeongyeon, just like we used to be. And we're...we're not. We're not close anymore, and I fucking miss you, Mina. So much."

Mina wants to scream at her but Momo has tears in her eyes and it breaks her heart because she knows her best friend is hurting just as much as she is. So she grabs her hands into her own and mumbles a "we are _not_ doing this in a public bathroom" to which Momo responds with "I thought you liked doing mature things behind closed doors" and Mina tries not to let it get to her heart. It does. When they get out of the bathroom and out of the restaurant, they notice that the sky is starting to change colors and it's gorgeous. Somehow, that calms her down. She gently rubs Momo's small and soft hands.

"Everytime I see them look at each other, they have that "I'm so in love with you" kind of look on their faces. That pure and precious look. Unless they're at each other's throats or in their teasing moments, they have that look on their face. Actually, they have the "I'm in love with you, you idiot" while fighting too. And I have that weird ass look on my face" she mimics Momo who almost laughs. She only cracks a smile because her heart is beating so fast, she can't laugh right now. "Because we used to look at each other like that" she finally confesses, making Momo's heart stop.

Momo's lips part as she looks into Mina's eyes.

"Everytime they hold hands, I _am_ in pain. Because you used to hold my hand, like we are now, all the damn time. Whenever I was nervous, the only thing that could calm me down was your hand in mine. It still is. Sana tried to hold my hands because you don't anymore but it doesn't fucking work" Mina almost cries out loud but she keeps going because she has to get this out of her chest now. "And yes, I am close to Jeongyeon because you made me distance myself from you. Because you only kiss me when you're drunk and you ignore me for _weeks_ after you do."

Hearing Mina talking about _that_ hurts Momo in ways she can't explain. But she listens to her because they have to go through this and get back together. Because she can't lose Mina. She's a huge part of her. And that means that she would lose herself.

(Losing Mina is scarier than losing herself)

"And we have never talked about it. I tried so hard, Momo. And everytime you just....ignore me. You pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about and of course you do. There's no way you can forget a kiss like that. No matter how drunk you are. I'm close to Jeongyeon because she and Sana were my shoulder to cry on whenever you hit me with yours"

Momo breaks the eye contact with the girl she's in love with and lets herself cry because she's so sick of herself and her habits and she hates herself so much for hurting Mina when the only thing she wanted was to love her. She loves Mina so much and she wants all the good things for her, but what is she supposed to do when she's not a good thing for her?

"Momoring" Mina speaks up softly, lifting her chin up with her finger. "I didn't tell you this to make you hate yourself. Yeah you should regret wasting so much time on lying and running away because I'm amazing" she makes her laugh and her heart jumps at the small, but powerful sound "I told you this because I want you to know how much we're hurting each other. I told you this because I want us to fix this and because I want us to be ok. To be like...like before, but more"

Momo's mouth opens up slightly. She's been ready for a while now. Mina is always ahead of her with two steps. Two steps because she had confessed first and because her grip on her hands are already tightening and she knows what the beautiful girl wants. They've done this many times before. Mina is only one and a half steps ahead because Momo takes a half step and gently grabs her chin and brings it down so that their lips can meet without having to get on her tip toes (which she does sometimes and which Mina finds adorable)

Once their lips meet, they both take a deep breath and they don't move for a few seconds. They just stay in the moment, with their lips pressed together. It feels like a level from the hardest and most painful game just got completed. Momo moves her hands from her chin to her waist and Mina moves hers to the shorter girl's neck, locking her fingers behind it. Momo's grip on her waist tightens just a little when their lips begin moving together. They've done this thousands of times before but they were always sloppy or lazy because Momo was almost always drunk, sometimes only dizzy. Still, Mina loved them because they were kisses from Momo. It broke her heart to know the older girl had to get drunk in order to have the courage to kiss her, but she accepted her kisses and touches (not sexually. Never) because she at least had her when she was drunk. But this kiss is so much different than any of their kisses in any possible way.

It's like a scene from a movie; the sky is changing colors and they are changing everything about them along with the sky. The sky is turning from light to almost complete darkness. Mina and Momo are changing from dark to light.

Momo doesn't taste like alcohol. She doesn't have trouble sitting straight. She doesn't taste Momo's tears of sadness (she does taste tears of happiness and they are just as salty but so much better) and she doesn't have to cry alone in her bedroom because there's a chance Momo will forget about this kiss. Depending and how drunk she was. (Momo never forgot any of their kisses. She forgot about everything and anyone that wasn't Mina or something about her). Momo tastes like sweet lip gloss and fresh mint and rainbows and happiness and love. So much love.

Mina tilts her head and gasps when Momo's grip tightens once more on her waist and lifts her up on her car. Her lips part and Momo finds the right moment to gently push her tongue until she meets Mina's who moans at the feeling because her tongue doesn't taste like alcohol. It tastes like mint. She can't get over it. She pulls her impossibly close and Momo's hands almost go to her ass before she stops herself and puts an end to this. She wants to, so bad, but before anything else, she wants to do this right. She messed around for too long and they both deserve the happiness they can give each other. So Momo pulls away and looks softly as she opens her eyes, dark brown eyes meeting each other. Their foreheads touch, they inhale the same air and it's Momo's time to speak.

"I'm so sorry for every single drunk kiss I gave you. You deserve all the sober and drunk kisses, not just one of them. I'm so, so sorry for all the pain I've caused you and I'm so sorry for being so annoying and taking so long. I'm so sorry. So, so sorry" she begins to cry, Mina holding her head against her chest as she cries, softly whispering "It's ok". "I'm so sorry for all the wrong things I've done and I promise you to do all right things I should've done."

Mina has been waiting for so long for Momo to say something about this. There's tears coming out of Mina's eyes and when Momo wipes them away, she swears her tears are like diamonds.

"And I promise to do the same for you."

"By the way. I remember all the kisses between us."

What is she supposed to do when she's not a good thing for her? Change.

When Momo and Mina come back, Sana knows. Mina has that shy smile on her face and Momo has that sly smile on her face. She'll ask them about it tomorrow, they can enjoy it for now. She feels happy looking at her best friends finally making up, and most likely making out. The large smile turns into a soft one when she sees Dahyun helping Jihyo with preparing the food. She gets up from her place and helps them out, not missing the way the pale girl suddenly get nervous. Jihyo doesn't miss it either.

At around 8:30pm, the food is ready and the firebone is only growing bigger. They eat the sandwiches and fruits and snacks and they drink beer and water and juice and Momo feels like throwing up when she sees them eating watermelon .She whispers to Mina she won't kiss her if she eats it.

(Mina still eats it. Because she knows Momo will kiss her anyway)

(Momo kisses her anyway)

They share stories, they laugh, they shiver, they get goosebumps, they live together and somehow it feels like they've known each other just like this, the nine of them, their entire lives. They talk about their first kisses and their first dates and personal things. Actually, only Chaeyoung, Tzuyu and Jihyo talk about it because Jeongyeon looks at Nayeon who just looked away from her, Momo bumps her shoulder into Mina's and they both giggle, Sana thinks about her meaningless first kiss and Dahyun stays quiet because she didn't have her first kiss.

"What about you, Dahyun?" Jeongyeon suddenly asks, taking a bite from the watermelon, Momo looking at her in disgust. Chaeyoung looks over at her friend with panic in her eyes but the pale girl simply shakes her head, the younger girl now staying in between her girlfriend's legs, her back pressed against her chest.

"Uhm, I...didn't have my first kiss" she shyly says, Sana's heart racing at the confession. She doesn't know why but she's suddenly imagining her own lips moving against Dahyun's soft ones. This girl is driving her crazy.

"That's ok, don't worry. Some of us actually have embarrassing first kiss stories so it's better if you wait for the right person. Not having your first kiss isn't something to be embarrassed about. It's cute" Sana smiles, shy at her own words. She sees Dahyun's pale cheeks turn into pink and Jeongyeon almost snorts.

"Wow, ok" the blonde girls mumbles, Nayeon slapping her leg. "If you're talking to her like that, why don't you kiss her for the first time, miss Minatozaki? she asks while getting up to get the marshmallows ready

Brown eyes meet each other. Dahyun tries to ignore Jeongyeon's words but she can't because she's already thinking about Sana's lips on her own.

"Your surname is Minatozaki? Dahyun asks, unconsciously licking her lips and even though they're sitting in front each other, the gap isn't that big so her eyes drop the her lips

She doesn't know what the hell it is, she just feels drawn to this girl.

"Yeah, why?" Sana husks

"Nothing just...I like it" Dahyun calmly states even though her heart is racing like crazy

"Take her name then" Momo says, noticing the way they're looking at each other and the fact that Sana's gaze immediately fell to her lips

"Maybe I will, and what about it? Dahyun says all of a sudden, Chaeyoung bursting into a fit of laughter, making everyone else laugh along

Along the fits of laughter, Sana's eyes meets Dahyun's and their laughter isn't as strong as the other's. They just softly stare at each other until Jeongyeon starts giving out sticks and marshmallows, the nine of them moving around the bonfire. Dahyun, Chaeyoung, Tzuyu, Jihyo, Sana, Mina, Momo, Nayeon and Jeongyeon are sitting on chairs in this order. Sana and Dahyun are sitting, once again, one in front of the other, the fire making it almost impossible for them to see each other.

Sasha and Max are already asleep on the almost cold sand.

"How about we sing a song? I've heard that Dahyun can sing too, so can we?" Momo suggests after a few minutes

"That sounds good, yeah"

"Dahyun since you're new, you choose a song" Tzuyu tells her because she didn't want her friends to tell her to choose a song since she's the youngest and someone (Jeongyeon) made it a rule for the youngest to always choose the song which she never really does because her answer isn't quick enough and they jump in with recommendations. Still, the pressure is enough.

"Great, 'cause that doesn't put a lot of pressure on me" Dahyun says, making them giggle. Getting out her guitar, she thinks about making a joke while she actually thinks of the real answer. "Blackpink's Playing with fire?"

"Bul-jang-nan" all of them scream at the top of their lungs, making the hand moves to the song. For some reason, all nine of them get a weird feeling in their stomach afterwards, as if they have danced to it before. Together.

"Uhm, I have this song that I...wrote and-"

"Is it What Is Love?" Sana suddenly asks

"Y-yeah...how did you know?"

"I showed it to them, sorry it was too good not to" Chaeyoung simply shrugs

"It's one of my favorite songs" Sana speaks up and Dahyun doesn't have time to get mad at Chaeyoung anymore because the way the Japanese girls says it, means everything to her.

_Every day, in a movie, in a book or in a drama, I feel love, um- I learn about love. My heart keeps beating as if it's my own story, takes my heart pound and swell with hope, um- I want to know so bad._

Nayeon starts singing because the way Sana and Dahyun are looking at each other right now, they might not start the song. Jeongyeon meets her halfway and Nayeon stops singing to look at her friend who's looking back at her. The way she looks at her makes her want to grab her cheeks and just fucking kiss her (again) because they're clearly into each other and she doesn't know what they're so scared of. Nayeon has dated before but she didn't feel anything special, like Chaeyoung talks about Tzuyu and vice versa. She wants that. She wants to know what love is and she knows Jeongyeon is the only one who can show her.

_Ooh, maybe someday could it happen to me too? When will it be? Who will it be?_

Mina sings the first verse and sends Momo a wink which makes the both of them giggle and blush like teenagers in love. Chaeyoung sings the next verse in the softest voice, holding hands with Tzuyu who smiles softly at her, even Jihyo's heart is fluttering at the way they're looking at each other. It reminds her of the way she and her girlfriend, Rosé, do.

_(I wanna know) How it could be as sweet as candy? (I wanna know) How it's like flying in the sky? I wanna know know know know what is love? What love feels like?(I wanna know) How it keeps you smiling all day?(I wanna know) How the whole world turns beautiful? I wanna know know know know, what is love? Will love come to me someday?_

Dahyun almost stops playing the guitar when Sana starts singing the chorus. Dahyun wrote this song thinking about the girl from church but she's trying to cross the first and only thing on her bucket list for this summer. It's time for a change and Sana feels like a good one. She almost stops playing the guitar because Sana's voice is so pleasing and soft and she only wants to hear her. No sea waves, no wood burning. Just her.

Tzuyu starts singing the last part and Chaeyoung's heart stops when Tzuyu looks right in her eyes while singing it. Like yeah, she's her girlfriend, who else is she supposed to look at? They're in a relationship so of course Tzuyu will look at her, but still, it makes Chaeyoung crazy. 

_Just imagining all of this, just thinking about it, almost makes my heart burst, um- How good it feels? If, one day, for real, love does comes to me, I might just cry, um- I really want to know how it feels._

Jihyo looks at the fire, missing her girlfriend but feeling happy because she knows what love is. She hopes her friends get to know what love is, too.

Momo sings the last bit of the verse and she looks at Mina. Everyone around them know and Nayeon wonders if Jeongyeon and her are the only one who are too scared to do anything about their feelings. Jeongyeon puffs and says, in her mind, because she knows exactly what her friend is thinking right now, "Not with Sana and Dahyun around", because there is something between them too. The only difference is that the two girls younger girls met a few hours ago while they have been here for a while. They just don't want to rush... _it._

_Ooh, maybe someday, could it happen to me too? When will it be? Who will it be?_

Mina sings the first part again, then Dahyun softly sings the last part, trying to get a glimpse of Sana, but she doesn't. Sana's heart stops then begins beating like crazy when she hears how soft and pure and innocent her voice is. 

Sana and Tzuyu sing the chorus again and Dahyun, once again, almost stops playing the guitar. The dogs wake up right before the guitarist's rap part and Max looks at her leader trying to get a glimpse of Sana through the fire.

_Where in the world are you right now? Just when will we get to meet each other? When and how might our relationship starts? I don't know right now, but somehow I feel, that it will be really good, better than any movie or drama. The greatest love will come, my gut instinct is always right, c'mon, show yourself, I'm all set, Ready!_

Everyone has already heard Dahyun and Chaeyoung's voices in the rap part, but it's so much different and better live. Sana's heart does all kinds of flips, flips not even Momo could do. Chaeyoung sings her part with a lot of passion - she has already found the love of her life, but at one point she did ask herself; what is love? And she got Tzuyu as an answer. So she smiles throughout the entire rap, her sweet voice making everyone smile, and Tzuyu's heart melt.

_(Wonder where you are) I'm gonna find you, (Wonder where you are) I'm so dying to see you, I can't take it much longer._

Nayeon takes her heart shaped lips in between her teeth and takes Jeongyeon's hands in her own. No one else but Jihyo notices and Jeongyeon sees her over Nayeon's shoulder, looking at them with a proud smile, nodding at the blonde. The younger one turns her attention back to Nayeon who keeps singing, her bunny teeth showing. Maybe it's the beer but she feels like crying because she loves this girl _so_ much. So she doesn't just hold her hand, she kisses her and interlocks their fingers and the butterflies in their tummies go crazy.

Max closes his eyes without putting his head down, and all of a sudden the fire isn't as strong. During Jihyo and Nayeon's solo, Dahyun finally sees Sana and they share a shy smile, like they're sending a secret message.

Almost everyone around Jihyo is coupled up and she does feel sad and she misses her girlfriend but for now, seeing her friends happy is enough. Dahyun looks around and it makes her almost slap herself for not letting them in sooner, but she won't stay and cry about how much she's lost. She will enjoy it fully, she'll love and support her friends. She looks around and it fits. The nine of them, they fit.

Nayeon looks around. The last time they were together, it was at her house, the eight of them. For some reason, it felt like something was missing. Now it doesn't. Another piece is complete.

She just hopes it all works out.

  
\---------

  
"Outside is very cold. Outside very cold." Dahyun is talking in broken English from either the cold or the beer. Either way, Sana thinks it's cute.

Jihyo doesn't want to sleep with Jeongyeon and Nayeon in the same tent so she sleeps in Chaeyoung and Tzuyu's. Mina and Momo are in a tent together and Sana wants to leave them alone because this is their first night after making up (and out), but she also doesn't want to over step with Dahyun so she says good night to the girl and makes a step to get into Momo and Mina's tent but the Korean girl gently grabs her arm and stops her.

"No-wait. D-don't sleep with them, let them...be together. Plus, my tent has an empty spot and I don't want to sleep alone" she shyly says, letting go of her arm, making both of them miss the contact

The Japanese girl says a softly "ok" and gets into the tent with Dahyun, the dogs sleeping in their own tent. They don't talk, except saying good night. and they both have trouble sleeping with the other sitting next to them. There's too many feelings and butterflies flying around them for them to fall asleep. So they turn around, facing each other and they talk.

(Falling in love is so much better than falling asleep, anyway.)

Jeongyeon has an arm over Nayeon's waist, the two of them also not being able to fall asleep. The blonde's warm breath is hitting the back of her neck and her hand is so close to her sweatpants. The younger girl's breath hitches in her throat when Nayeon "cuddles" closer to her, making her back hit her pelvis, but now her hand is farther away from her sweatpants. It doesn't matter because Jeongyeon receives the answer and she gets up on her left elbow, her arm being above the older's head.

"Are you...are you sure?" is the first thing Jeongyeon asks and Nayeon's heart melts at the younger's tenderness

"Please" she almost moans when she feels her friend playing with the sweatpants' band. She teases her, scratching at the skin on her flat stomach while lifting up her shirt and with her left hand, she softly grabs Nayeon's left breast, watching as her pretty heart shaped lips form the letter "O" before bitting her lower lip. The blonde girl smirks, loving how much power she has over her and she only just begun. She plays with her nipple and feels Nayeon thrusting her hips, trying to get her friend's hand where she needs it the most. The action makes the muscle in the older girl's thigh tense and because the short haired girl is standing over her, it creates friction on her center and she stops all actions, closing her eyes for a second.

The brown haired girl notices and smirks, doing the same thing again, watching as her friend's plump lips part, forming the same small "O". She wants to be a top for _once_ in her life so she pulls away from the older girl's leg, her hand getting inside the sweatpants all of a sudden, the smirk on Nayeon's lips disappearing completely. The blonde girl almost moans when she feels how wet Nayeon is without even touching her and the older girl moans into Jeongyeon's hoodie because she's finally being touched where she craves to be.

"I won't kiss you until you come so I can feel you moaning in my mouth" Jeongyeon whispers while looking the older girl in the eyes. "So you better be quiet if you want to come". Nayeon is trying so hard not to come from how rough and husky her voice is.

 She _slowly_ moves her index finger across the older's clit, making her shut her eyes in frustration. She knows her panties are ruined by now. She kisses her neck, getting more space to kiss in response from the girl underneath her who tilts her head. She leaves kisses here and there on her friend's neck, teasing her, bitting a little when she gets the sweatpants halfway down. She bites hard and sucks harder when she finally gets them all the way down, making the older girl dig her nails into the blonde's neck. It's painful but the wetness coming from Jeongyeon says it's the good kind of pain.

She plays with her clit, even if she is more than ready already, Jeongyeon softly kisses her shoulder and Nayeon almost laugh at how she can go from _that_ to being _this_ soft. But all the laughter is caught in her throat when she slips a finger inside.

"This is my first time, this is my first" she says quickly, forgetting to tell her

Jeongyeon's finger stops moving and her heart stops beating for a few seconds.

"W-what?" 

"What do you mean what, this is my first time" she says once again, the pink shade appearing on her cheeks

"Oh my God, you-"

"Shut up. I did...other things but I waited for someone special to...be my first" she admits shyly, making the other girl fall for her even more

Nayeon looks up to her, a hand gently going to her cheek.

"I waited for you."

Something inside her bursts and she leans in, taking her favorite pair of lips between her own. Nayeon audibly gasps and Jeongyeon almost giggles into the kiss, thinking how indiscreet they're being. She grabs her small neck with both of her hands when their lips move together but Jeongyeon pulls away.

"What happened to no kissing until I come?" she bites her lip while smirking

"Shut your pretty mouth, I couldn't resist you" she mumbles annoyed, making the older girl giggle at her "Ok, starting from now. No more kissing" Nayeon keeps falling for this girl every single day and she loves everything about her.

Even though they had a small break and Jeongyeon stopped doing anything, she's still trembling. She's so turned on she can feel her heart beat in her ears. Jeongyeon adds another finger as she watches her friend's reaction, her eyes locking on the heart shaped lips.

She thinks about their first kiss which was a little bit over a month ago.

  
_Jeongyeon and Nayeon just came home after a date with Jihyo. The three of them missed each other because they've been busy studying for finals and they decided to meet up now that they're done with the finals. Their waitress told them "You guys look nice together", and Jihyo could feel the panic radiating from the both of them but Nayeon politely told her "Oh, we're not together" to which Jihyo added "Yet" under her breath, but both of them heard it. Jihyo doesn't know how to actually whisper. The waitress apologized, saying how they just looked really close and they both realize that they have been really close lately. The teasing and making fun of each other are still there but something is different._

_So here they are now, in their apartment. They moved in together because it's cheaper and easier and because they're not dating anyone. (Chaeyoung once told Jeongyeon "Why would you guys date anyone if you're already dating each other?"). She knows her friends are only joking around and even if they do mean it, they don't think there actually is something going on between them. There isn't. The only thing that's going on between them is a pillow whenever Jeongyeon climbs into Nayeon's bed late at night because she had another one of those nightmares._

_Nayeon doesn't know why she puts the pillow in the first place because it doesn't take more than five minutes for her to throw the pillow away and hug her after kissing her head. It only happens after Jeongyeon falls asleep so she won't see this soft and extremely in love side of her._

_(Jeongyeon knows anyway)_

_She also doesn't know why it takes her so long to throw the pillow away because five minutes before the pillow is thrown away, she grabs Jeongyeon's hand and everytime they wake up, their hands are still together. She thinks Jeongyeon is asleep because the girl tends to fall asleep quickly whenever she's close to Nayeon and the nightmares never come back._

_(She's not.)_

_Jeongyeon thinks Nayeon is her teddy bear. But the teddy bear she used to have by her bed when she was a child and had nightmares, is now a fluffy bunny. She wouldn't change a thing._

_Things between them are weird and they don't know how to fix it._  
    
_Jeongyeon finishes showering and she doesn't bother to dry her hair. It's winter and it's really cold. Nayeon groans and takes a towel, sitting in front of her, gently drying her hair. At one point she sits up on her knees to do a better job since her friend is taller than her and for some reason, Jeongyeon's hands go to her waist. Nayeon stops for a seconds, gulps and licks her lips. Her hands on her hips feel so good, so right, like they're supposed to be there. Nayeon comes back down, being on the almost same eye level with the girl in front of her, and she stops again for a few seconds with the towel wrapped around her shoulders, a part of it on her short, silver hair. She realizes Jeongyeon's hands are still on her waist, tighter than before. It's like she wants to get a reaction out of her. And she does. When she pinches her sides and Nayeon closes her eyes, almost moaning her name._

_"Jeongyeonnie..." she breathes_

_"Nayeonnie..." she copies her tone and Nayeon stops trying to dry her hair, pulling herself away from her_

_"We're not dating" she says quietly all of a sudden_

_"We're not" the younger girl agrees, nodding once_

_"But all of our friends think we are"_

_"They clearly don't know us because we can't stand each other" the short haired girl continues_

_"Yeah, we can't stand each other." Nayeon chews on her bottom lip looking at her best friend_

_"I-I mean, you're my friend but I can't fucking stand you" Jeongyeon says, losing her mind over how Nayeon is chewing that damn lip. She wishes she was biting it. She does have an obsession with her heart shaped lips. Nayeon sees the way the silver haired girl is looking at her lips and she's losing her mind over it - it's not the first time someone looks at her in this way, but it's the first time it means something for her._

_She licks her lips and sighs, saying "I can't fucking stand how I can't resist you" before crashing their lips together for the first time after years of craving each other._

_Jeongyeon thanks the Lords that she's sitting because her legs feel like jelly and she has thousands of thoughts running through her mind and just as many butterflies in her stomach. She pulls Nayeon into her lap who gladly follows the order. She's had just as many thoughts of kissing Nayeon and she is finally kissing her and it feels like so much more than she could ever dream of. Those heart shaped lips have been driving her insane for years and she's finally kissing her and it's good. It's so good._

_She breathes through her nose because she doesn't want the kiss to (ever) end and she pulls her even closer, making her stand up on her knees with a leg on either side of the younger girl's thighs. Jeongyeon moans when their tongues meet and Nayeon moans when the younger girl bites on her lower lip._

_"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that for" Jeongyeon pulls away just to say that because she wants her to know_

_"I think I do. You're really not trying to hide it"_

_"I'm not even embarrassed about it. I just love them. And I know you hate your teeth but I love them. You're the only bunny I'm not allergic to" she jokes and Nayeon doesn't even slap her arm because she's so into the moment, she feels like she could cry._

_The way Jeongyeon is looking at her while saying these things, it means the world to Nayeon. Jeongyeon means the world to Nayeon._

_"I love your teeth and I love it when you bite your bottom lip" she carefully caresses it, and it's so tender that it makes Nayeon think she's made out of glass. She's the most precious person for Jeongyeon. "I love your cute little nose and your beautiful eyes and your half eyebrows" Nayeon slaps her at this one and Jeongyeon thinks it's well deserved. "I love your mind even though I don't understand what goes in that beautiful brain of yours most of the time. I hate it when you randomly bark but I love it when you treat Momo like you do. I love how you mess around with Chaeyoung and Tzuyu but you're really soft for them and you'd do anything for them. For anyone, actually. I love your big heart and how you're always thinking of everyone. I love how you have a lot of friends but you need your own time. I love your loud ass laugh and your stupid ass jokes that are really funny but I just love making fun of you."_

_Nayeon bites on her lower lip to stop the tears in her eyes but she knows it's impossible. Especially when Jeongyeon doesn't stop talking. Jeongyeon is the one who knows her better than she knows herself. Jeongyeon was the only one for a really long time who knew that her confidence was just a lie and who knows how frustrated she gets with herself over small things and how she always tries her best. Jeongyeon knows it all. And in her eyes, Nayeon's flaws aren't flaws._

_"I love how you don't get mad whenever I tease you, and I do that a lot. I love how we both know when to stop and we know when to stop being Yoo Jeongyeon and Im Nayeon and just be Jeongyeonnie and Nayeonnie. I love your relationship with your parents, I love your relationship with my parents. I love the way you look at me. I love you, Nayeon. So show me. Show me you love me too. Show me, Nayeon~"_

_Nayeon hugs her best friend really tight because God, is she in love with the girl in her arms and she doesn't really remember when she fell this hard for her. She was falling from the beginning; slowly but surely. She hugs her because she's sorry for all the times she could've kissed her but kissed some random person instead. She hugs her because this is scary and they wanted to win some time, but they can't unlove and unkiss each other. She hugs her because she loves her just as much and she hated the idea of "In a relationship there's always one that loves more than the other" and she loves that it doesn't apply to her and her Jeongyeonnie. She cries again because she's so lucky to have her in her life and she cries some more when their lips touch again._

_And again and again and again and again._

  
Jeongyeon feels tears in her eyes because she can't believe she actually got the girl and ever since, there has been this light over them and she's so grateful they're not surrounded by darkness and sadness anymore. She can't wait until she tells the others that they are dating, because they've been right all along (the two of them knew they were right, they just tried to ignore it) (it didn't work so well, Jeongyeon would say)

She begins moving her hand faster and when she feels Nayeon sucking on her left hand index finger, she almost comes without being touched. She closes her eyes and focuses on her girlfriend but before she can say anything, Nayeon's hands are in her pants and both of them moan at the wetness.

"It's my first time, too" Jeongyeon whispers

"It is?" Nayeon asks, surprised

"Yeah. You're not the only cheesy one"

Nayeon turns around to face her, even if she was excited about being taken from behind by Jeongyeon, there is enough time for that. For them. She gently adds one finger, waiting for her girlfriend to adjust to the feeling. She kisses her cheek and the blonde girl moves her fingers faster as she tells her girlfriend it's ok for her to move, making her copy her spead, the younger girl leaning her head against the brown haired girl's shoulder.

Her walls clench around her fingers exactly when hers clench around Nayeon's. Hearing each other's painful whimpers because they want to _scream_ at how good it feels but they can't. Both of them roll their hips into each other's fingers. Jeongyeon kisses her and they moan into each other's mouths, shaking from the orgasm. Jeongyeon presses her thumb against her clit as she helps her come down from her high, the kiss becoming softer. The younger girl reaches out to clean her hand but Nayeon grabs it before she can make another move. She sucks on her fingers while looking her straight in the eyes, rolling her tongue around them before biting. Jeongyeon swears she could come again. Then, as if it wasn't enough, she takes her own fingers and sucks and licks every bit of Jeongyeon that's on her fingers.

"Hey that's not fair" Jeongyeon pouts and even though Nayeon thinks she looks adorable, she has something else in her mind

She simply opens up her legs and Jeongyeon gulps, her own center throbbing. Her eyes fall on her center and Nayeon doesn't have any time to feel insecure for being completely naked (her shirt came off at some point) thanks to Jeongyeon who throws her legs over her shoulders and drops her head between her legs. Nayeon drops her own head on the pillow as her hand goes to Jeongyeon's short and soft hair, a smirk appearing on her lips. As she slowly rolls her hips to meet Jeongyeon's tongue, something else comes up in their minds but Nayeon's reaction is faster so she slowly pushes her head away, noticing how the sun is starting to come out.

"Let's come together again" Nayeon gently whispers when she sees Jeongyeon's confused expression

She pecks her lips then gently pushes her to lay down, smirking at the view. They both giggle because they know who tops and Nayeon leans down to whisper "You did well baby" in her year before she bites on her earlobe and she fells her girlfriend whimpering underneath her. Nayeon puts her legs on either side of Jeongyeon's right leg, while her own left leg is between the blonde's legs, almost touching her center. They moan lowly when they finally feel the contact between their centers and each other's thighs.

"Follow me" she whispers again, slowly moving her hips on her girlfriend's thigh. Nayeon pulls her back and smirks, licking her lips while looking into her eyes. Jeongyeon's eyes roll to the back of her head at the feeling, Nayeon rolling her hips faster on her thigh, completely naked, while biting her lip. Their cheeks are flushed and it makes Nayeon blush harder when she feels Jeongyeon's hand on her ass. The older girl leans down and Jeongyeon grabs her right breast, taking a nipple into her mouth. Nayeon leans down, moaning and breathing into the bottom's ear. They know they'll be embarrassed at how needy they are, but for now they don't care.

They draw circles on each other's clits for a few seconds and they slowly feel an orgasm coming. Their stomachs are burning from the movements but it feels too good to stop. Nayeon's head drops next to Jeongyeon's as they come together and she bites hard on her neck while the blonde scratches her entire back. They kiss to stop each other from screaming at how good everything feels. Jeongyeon starts shaking underneath her girlfriend and Nayeon smirks for a second before she plants soft kisses all over her face, trying to calm her down.

The older girl rests on top of her girlfriend who keeps drawing circles on her back, their breathing slowly coming back to normal. She kisses the dark purple spot on Jeongyeon's neck and while getting dressed, Jeongyeon kisses the two spots where the stratches begin. They cuddle afterwards, Jeongyeon being the small spoon.

"I think I just found a new kink; biting" Jeongyeon mumbles, feeling sleepy. They check the time; 6am.

"So did I. Scratching" Nayeon giggles against her hoodie. "You're such a bottom."

"Maybe so"

  
\---------

  
20 days have passed since the three of them became nine. 

Dahyun finishes a conversation with her parents on facetime. The sun behind them was so bright that it hurt Dahyun's brain and it also hurt her heart because they looked at peace and so happy. It hurt her because the three of them, together, haven't been that happy in a really long time. Still, the pain isn't as deep as it used to be. It's slowly fading away. And she can thank her new friends for that. Her grandparents are supposed to come back this week, but she hasn't heard from them, which is not something they would do

"So what's the occasion for today? Why are we all gathered here?" Chaeyoung questions, watching as Sana puts lipstick on Nayeon's lips. Jeongyeon opens the dorm and sends Nayeon a smile, making her cheeks burn at the smile that's only for her, sending her one right back before the blonde sits beside Momo, throwing an arm around her shoulders. Momo's smile reaches her eyes and she turns around to her friend, kissing her cheek. Jeongyeon actually lets her. Chaeyoung notices.

"What, we can't just hang out together?" Nayeon questions but it sounds like she's scolding the younger girl

"Well I mean, we've been spending time together every single day for the past 20 days but now you actually called every single one of us and told us to meet up here so I believe I have the right to question you" Chaeyoung shrugs, a small smile appearing on her lips

"Ok you win, now shut up" Jeongyeon laughs, Sana finishing contouring Nayeon's lips. The moment Nayeon gets up from the bed she looks to Jeongyeon first who nods and smiles softly before she looks into the mirror, the words "pretty" "Girl you better jump on your girl's bones tonight" and "It's ok, you're ok." making their way into her mind. She smiles into the mirror before she sees Dahyun leaning against the wall.

She notices the way Sana's face breaks into a smile the moment their eyes meet and how Dahyun looks away, blushing. Everytime Dahyun is around Sana, Nayeon forgets Dahyun's skin is actually really white.

She knows there's nothing going on between the two of them because Sana would've told Momo and Momo can't keep secrets. But she knows something will happen sooner or later. It has to.

"Mina is downstairs, she's putting on a movie with Tzuyu"

"I don't think Mina or Chaeng would like that" Nayeon makes a dumb joke and Jeongyeon is the first one to slap her forehead. Nayeon and Momo are the only one laughing, Sana smiling softly because hearing her best friend's laugh and seeing her happy is like heaven to her. "By the way, before we go to bed, lots of fun things happen among those who can't sleep so go to sleep early if you wanna miss the fun."

"We become weird after midnight" Jeongyeon simply nods

"After midnight? We're weird now!"

They get out of Dahyun's room while laughing, Chaeyoung explaining to Mina and Tzuyu why they're laughing, Dahyun telling Nayeon "I don't know why you're talking to us like this our first sleepover together" then she shuts up and doesn't mention it again because she realizes that Nayeon is nervous. And she doesn't want to make fun of her when she's nervous.

Sana sucks in her lips and crosses her arms over her chest, wanting (craving) some time alone with Dahyun because she misses cuddling up with her, smelling her vanilla scent and feeling her soft skin. Over the past 20 days the two of them have gotten so much closer that when they went together to buy some ice cream, the girl told them they look cute together.

They didn't tell her they're not dating. 

And when Dahyun tells Chaeyoung and Tzuyu and Sana tells Mina and Momo, they're not surprised at the ice cream girl for thinking they look cute together, or for thinking they're a couple because they are actually cute and the way they've been acting with each other, they might as well just be a couple.

Jihyo brings in the juice, alcohol, food and snacks and they settle down for the movie. Momo complains about all the calories she'll have to get rid of later but she's also the first one to start eating.

"Ok we're gonna watch a horror movie so grab your partner and cuddle up, no funny stuff around" Momo sends them a look

"You are literally in a new relationship with Mina, we should be worried about you" Jeongyeon sends the look back at her

"Why do we always let Mina and Tzuyu choose the movie, they always pick scary ones" Momo mumbles, taking the conversation in another direction

"That's ok, you have me, baby" Mina giggles, pulling her closer by her waist, her front being pressed against her girlfriend's back. 

"Great" Jihyo mumbles, trying not to let the soft smile creep on her lips but fails as she watches two of her friends falling in love with each other every day

Taking her eyes off from the new couple, she watches Jeongyeon and Nayeon hugging each other closely. She thinks it's funny (and extremely sweet) how the two of them are always at each other's throats but they can also treat each other as if they only see each other. She then looks at Tzuyu holding Chaeyoung like she's the most precious thing in the world (which she is) and thinks how even though they're the youngest in the group of friends, they were the first ones to start dating. They just knew what they wanted and needed and they got it, and still have it (Jeongyeon and Nayeon started dating because of them. Because they realized you cannot run from love) and Jihyo thinks it's the purest thing she's ever seen.

And then she looks at Dahyun and Sana. The scary movie starts, Jihyo turns off the lights and sits on the couch. She watches as Sana sits in the love chair. How Sana, because she sat on it first, spreads her legs on it, and pats the space between her legs, telling Dahyun to sit there. The younger girl does as she's told and leans into the girl's embrace, her back being pressed against Sana's front. She has trouble breathing and it's not because of the movie.

Dahyun can't really focus on the movie, that's why she doesn't even react to it. Not even to the really scary parts. Neither does Sana and they both have big reactions to scary movies so it does make sense when all of them are surprised because only Momo and Nayeon are screaming. Sometimes Mina because Momo's screams scare the shit out of her. It's like she's giving birth, Mina thinks.

After two hours of pure terror, Dahyun can finally breathe when Sana releases her. But as soon as she does, the Korean girl misses her like crazy and she watches as Sana gets up from the love chair to pour herself a glass of beer. One for Jeongyeon too.

"We should play truth or dare" Nayeon suggests all of a sudden. They share a few looks before nodding. So they sit in a circle and they decide to spin the bottle; the person spinning it gets to ask the person it lands on. Because Nayeon came up with the idea, she spins it first and it lands on Dahyun who chooses dare.

"I dare you to flirt with Tzuyu"

The only thing Dahyun does is get close to Tzuyu for the youngest to say "You're pressuring me" with a straight face, making everyone in the room burst into laughter, only Sana laughing a little less because she wishes Dahyun would flirt with her. Or give her any kind of sign that she likes her back.

"Wait, let me just say that if you refuse to do something, you have to take a shot" Jeongyeon adds quickly

Jihyo spins the bottle after Jeongyeon's new rule, and it lands on the blonde which makes the girls laugh a little. The blonde sends her a smirk and makes the safe decision. Or at least she thinks she does.

"Is it true that whoever you're texting who gets you all smiley and a blushing mess, is someone among us?" Jihyo asks and Jeongyeon's heart drops

She quickly takes a shot and Nayeon gulps. She didn't even have to answer the question, taking the shot was enough. There's a silence between all of them and they all look at Sana, Dahyun and Nayeon because they're the only ones who aren't dating anyone. The answer is pretty much right there and it makes the hidden couple feel dizzy. Sana takes the bottle and decides to save two of her best friends and spins the bottle only to get herself into deep shit because it lands on Dahyun. She thinks about "kiss me" when Dahyun chooses dare, looking straight into her chocolate eyes , but she wouldn't do that because she wants Dahyun's first kiss to be special. She thinks about "I dare you to cuddle me for the entire night" but she thinks it's too cheesy (Even though she wants that to happen so bad). Sana has had a lot of crushes over the years but not once in her life has she craved someone's attention as much as she's craving Dahyun's. It scares her but it also gets her excited. So she goes for an old, but gold kind of dare.

"I dare you to seven minutes in heaven with..." Sana pauses and fakes thinking of someone even though they all know who she's sending the younger girl with. "Me"

They all think Dahyun is about to take a shot and Sana watches with her hear beating fast against her chest, thinking how heartbroken she'll be if the girl does take a shot. Instead, she watches as the paler girl gets up from the floor and instead of taking a shot, she gently takes Sana's hand between her own, just as gently dragging her into her room. Over these past 20 days, there's always been this feeling like they've been here before, in Dahyun's room, before this summer, like they know each other for a really long time, but they don't mention it to each other or anyone else.

The two of them get into the smaller girl's closet and when the doors close, they forget how to breathe. Apparently they also forget how to talk because there's a silence between the two of them and now there's only six minutes in heaven. It's so quiet and they get scared because they feel like their heartbeats can be heard.

"Why do you do that?" Sana breaks the silence and Dahyun's heart starts beating faster than before if that's even possible

"Do what?" Dahyun find herself asking, genuinely confused

"You look like you want to spend as much time with me as I want to spend with you but... you're also ignoring me. You're always pairing up with everyone _but_ me. The only times we've been paired up together is whenever I dragged you next to me. And trust me, I'd do that forever if it makes you feel the tiniest thing for me, but I can't and won't do it anymore if you like someone else or if it doesn't make you feel something because it makes me feel too much and it's too hard because I can't do something about these feelings that I have for you. So, what is it? Is it...do you not like me? At all? Because at the beach it seemed like you did. What changed?"

Sana had always confessed her feelings for her crushes and it ended pretty well most of the time. She's never been scared of expressing her feelings because she grew up in a loving family who taught her to never be scared because she doesn't know who she's letting go of, so she was never scared of rejection. But now, with Dahyun, she's terrified. Not only because of the rejection itself, but because she could lose one of the most important people in her life. Still, she does, because she could also lose her if she _doesn't_ confess.

There's too much information for Dahyun and her brain is like when you're an international fan and you order something that takes months to arrive. It takes so long and the other fans posting pictures with the merch makes you sad but you're the happiest when it finally arrives and it was all worth it. But Dahyun doesn't want to wait that long. 

She feels like getting out of the closet, making her luggage and driving home, not even caring about how alone she would be. She has a thing about running away whenever there's feelings involved, anyway. There's too much information for Dahyun and her brain is like when you're an international fan and you order something that takes months to arrive. It takes so long and the other fans posting pictures with the merch makes you sad but you're the happiest when it finally arrives and it was all worth it. But Dahyun doesn't want to wait that long. So she takes a deep breath, and for the rest of the three minutes left in heaven, she takes and holds the hands of the girl she's been in love with for the past 20, almost 21 days.

"It's not that I don't like you, it's that I like you a lot." she starts and feels how nervous Sana is. Her hands are trembling. "I tend to run away from my feelings and trust me, if anyone else was confessing to me right now, we wouldn't be talking still. But it's you. This is about you, about us and I can't do that to you, to us. So hear me out" she takes a deep breath

She notices how tight Sana is holding her hands so she starts caressing them with her thumbs. She sends her a soft smile to calm her down even though she's also dying because of nervous she is.

"You already know because I'm a dumbass and I reveal embarrassing stuff about myself, I've never been into a relationship or had my first kiss. But, I like you. A lot. And it scares me so I tend to ignore you but I can't because I always catch myself looking at you, like... like I'm losing myself while looking at you and I know how cheesy it sounds but it's the best explanation I have. I can't...I can't resist you and I want you so bad but I didn't know if you wanted me back."

"I do." Sana immediately responds and she doesn't know how she can even talk right now. "Also, never say you're dumb for talking about yourself. And it's not embarrassing. It's cute."

"I know" Dahyun laughs, her heart warming at the thought of the girl saying the two words again, under other circumstances. She ignores the second part, but the words do get to her heart."I kind of got that from your little speech" she's sure Sana's cheeks are bright red right know. (they are) "I know. And that changes a lot of things because we like each other and we know that we like each other"

"How about we just... let everything happen. We don't force anything and we don't ignore each other either" Dahyun also knows Sana is sending her a look right now (she is)

"Yeah, I'd like that" Dahyun breathes out, a dumb smile on her face, closing her eyes for a second. "I'd thought you'd...you know. Kiss me. Since that's what people do in these kind of games" 

Talking about feelings is not what someone does in this kind of game, but once again, they're Sana and Dahyun. Eveything is special about them.

"Don't worry, we have plenty of time for that, Dahyunnie"

The nickname coming from Sana's lips starts something deep inside Dahyun. She opens up her eyes and gulps. There's a fire inside of her and it's like that game where you hide something and if the person searching for it is far away from that something, you say "cold", but if they're close, you say "hot". And it's hot. It's so hot right now, Dahyun is sure you could cook an egg on her. Her insides her burning and she lets go of Sana's hands because her own are starting to sweat. Getting no reaction from Sana at the sudden loss of contact, she thinks she can feel it too.

They hear the door opening but Sana stops Dahyun from reacting, grabbing her hand.

"Wait" Sana whispers "You know my heart, right?"

"I do. And you know mine, right?"

"I do."

It might be only seven minutes in heaven with her but it sure feels like a lifetime is about to start.

Jeongyeon opens up the closet and pouts, mumbling "y'all boring" before Jihyo, while laughing, drags them out of it and the nine of them get back in the living room.

"Ok so I have to tell you something" Jeongyeon gets up from the floor, all nine pairs of eyes being on her "Uhm, I don't really know how to tell you because like _someone_ else" she looks at Chaeyoung and Tzuyu "I don't have a whole thing planned but I think that just like this, the nine of us is just perfect and so-"

"You're rambling, it's ok" Nayeon gets up from the floor to hold her girlfriend's hand and the "something" Jeongyeon wants to tell them is pretty obvious.

“You guys know that we know each other for a really long time and you always thought there's something going on between us and we..." Nayeon looks into Jeongyeon's eyes before looking at her lips then back at her eyes

"Well, there is finally something going on between us. We're dating."

No one knows what to tell them because as happy and excited as they are, they don't find the right words.

"I fucking told all y'all there was a reason we're all here today. Jeongyeon never plans something and if she does, she cancels it" Chaeyoung says all of a sudden, the revealed couple finally laughing, silently thanking the younger girl.

All seven of them get up from the floor and start hugging the new couple, who get scolded for hiding it for them for so long, Jihyo being shocked at hearing "A..couple of months".

"Maybe this summer really is special" Dahyun shrugs calmly, sending Sana a look who smiles shyly. Jeongyeon and Nayeon try to smile too at her words. They can't.

"Ok so now that the secret is out, let's get drunk" Chaeyoung raises her glass

Jeongyeon and Nayeon cringe at the choice of words but they can't show how much they’re cringing because no one else knows, so they try to think of something else. And they do. They think of drinking and getting drunk and that’s what they do.

Jihyo and Sana are dancing on the table while Momo, Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Mina are also dancing and singing like crazy, Tzuyu dancing from the couch because she feels a little bit dizzy, the dogs are barking and jumping. Nayeon starts barking too at some point and it makes Jeongyeon sigh. The two of them are laughing at their best friends, taking pictures and videos. They watch as Sana tells Dahyun over the music “I likey you” which makes the couple giggle and Dahyun blush. 

“You think they know?” Jeongyeon asks

“Almost”

  
\---------

  
A week after Jeongyeon and Nayeon's secret came out, Dahyun gets a call from her grandparents. She expects them to drop the news that they're coming home, which doesn't really bother her because they can go over at Jeongyeon's house anytime and because they're going out clubbing tonight, and also because they won't be staying home too long anyway.

She answers the phone and she doesn't expect to get this kind of news, but she does. Her grandparents won’t be coming home. They tell her through Facetime that Dahyun looks really happy so there is no point in coming back if she is with her friends, she has a lot of money at home and they’re all adults who can take care of themselves and of each other anyway. She lets her be and Dahyun thanks them. Because for the first time, she doesn’t feel lonely and for the first time, she doesn’t crave attention from her family nor does she feel like she’s gonna disappear if they leave her alone for too long.

They arrive at the club around 10pm, and the first thing they do is dance. A little bit later they take a few shots before the true dancing begins. Chaeyoung stays at the bar for a little bit longer and watches Tzuyu in the crowd, because she's the prettiest girl there and she's hers. Also, because she's the tallest, but that's not the point.

She thinks about when they were both 16 and the night they became a couple. It was past midnight in Dahyun's grandparent's house. Dahyun was long asleep in her own room because she didn't feel that well. (that's what she told them because she later on said she had lied because she wanted them to have the night alone, hoping something between them would happen. Which worked)

  
_The girls drank coffee only a couple of hours ago, at 9pm, which messed up their sleeping schedule, not that they could have slept anyway next to each other because they were too close and there were too many butterflies around them. So they decide to dance in the kitchen and because Chaeyoung's music is on shuffle, a romantic song starts playing._

_Chaeyoung's heart is beating like crazy but she's playing it off really well because Tzuyu is already awkward and she doesn't want to make things even more awkward._

_Tzuyu teases her for being a romantic but her stomach and heart flip when the older but smaller girl puts her hands on her waist and pulls her closer, a shy smile on her face. Tzuyu puts her own hands on her strong shoulders and they start dancing to the beat of the song, a silence falling over them. Chaeyoung falls too deep into her soft mood and she leans into Tzuyu, her head falling on her chest. Tzuyu shuts her eyes tight and sighs; her heart is beating so fast, she's sure Chaeyoung can hear it. She wants to pull away, but at the same time, she wants the secret to be out. So she holds the smaller girl closer._

_Even if the music is loud, Chaeyoung hears how fast and loud Tzuyu's heartbeat is. She realizes Tzuyu isn't moving to the song anymore and when she looks up at her for a second, she sees the taller girl already looking down at her. Chaeyoung's cheeks start burning under her gaze so she rests her head on her chest again._

_"Tzuyu, your heart starts racing-"_

_"Me? I think I'm healthy" she suddenly interrupts her_

_Tzuyu suddenly pulls away and Chaeyoung almost laughs at how lame her excuse is. She sees Tzuyu panicking so she takes a hold of her trembling hands, holding them still._

_"Then I'm healthy too, because my heart is beating just as fast"_

_They know they're not talking about what they're actually saying and Tzuyu's eyes slightly widen. Chaeyoung's heart drops when she sees her eyes watering. The youngest tends to act tough and even if Chaeyoung is the only one who has seen Tzuyu crying the most between her and Dahyun, she always gets worried and soft whenever she cries. So right now, her own bottom lip starts trembling and she looks into her dark brown eyes. But still, she gets a grip of herself because Tzuyu comes first._

_"You don't have to worry, Tzu. You didn't do anything wrong. I didn't do anything wrong. There is nothing wrong with falling in love with your best friend"_

_"I know" Tzuyu tries not to cry so hard that her head starts hurting. "It's just that...I thought I fell for you but you didn't fell for me. And you did"_

_"I did."_

_Chaeyoung gets on her tip toes and kisses Tzuyu. They both realize there's only one thing better than being in love with someone who is in love with you - being with them._

_Tzuyu can't hold back. Not this time. She finally cries, when her lips touch Chaeyoung's._

  
Chaeyoung smiles at the memory from three years ago and even if it wasn't that long ago, she remembers it like it was yesterday and she knows she will remember it forever. She walks towards the dance floor and moves through the crowd until she finds her girlfriend and their best friends.

Around 11pm, Sana and Dahyun find their way to each other.

Jeongyeon tells Mina to pair up with Dahyun and she tells Momo to pair up with Sana. They dance for a little bit before the couple stop dancing with the two of them, forcing them to find each other. Instead of running, Dahyun puts her hands on her shoulders while Sana gently grabs her waist, pulling her closer, their noses almost touching. She looks at her lips because she has been thinking about kissing her ever since they came here. She can't even blame it on the alcohol because she's not drunk, and she's thinking about kissing Dahyun at least twice a day. She feels weird for having these thoughts about Dahyun but she can't stop herself. She then sees the way Dahyun is looking at her lips so she knows - Dahyun has the same kind of dreams.

She finds her eyes next and the moment their brown, chocolate eyes meet, it's like everything slows down and suddenly they're in a poorly written love story that makes everyone fall in love with their characters. They just hope they don't have a tragic ending like most of them do. Something tells them they won't.

Jeongyeon stops dancing and looks at the two girls being so close to each other. It's not sexual, but there is a craving there. The craving of being with each other, of kissing each other, but it's not like all the other couples in the club, the need to grind on each other. The two of them just want to be with each other and she thinks that's beautiful. Still, even if it was sexual and about grinding, Jeongyeon would still have believed that's beautiful because she loves them together. Nayeon notices her girlfriend not dancing anymore so she follows her gaze and her own gaze falls on Sana and Dahyun.

The song changes from an upbeat one to a slower one but they stop dancing. Their eyes go from their lips to their eyes and the oldest of the group feels like mnet because they think about how many edits of them gulping they could make.

Someone bumps into them and they look at each other for two seconds before they smile weakly and they start dancing again. Jeongyeon sighs and gets out of the crowd, going to the bar with Nayeon following closely behind her.

"I thought this would be amazing, only us knowing but it's so fucking frustrating, we really can't win." Jeongyeon speaks up before adding "I think we should tell them"

"That's literally the same exact thing as them not knowing" Nayeon sends her a look, sitting next to her

"How do you know that? It's literally a tumblr myth, no one has ever tried it before, no one knows for sure"

"And do you dare to be the first one to try? _Especially_ with them, when they're so close? When _we're_ so close?"

Jeongyeon takes a sip of her drink and plays with her hair for a second before sighing in defeat.

"Of course I wouldn't. Not with them, not with us."

"It's only been a month, give them some time"

Nayeon falls into deep thought as soon as she says that so Jeongyeon doesn't have to send her look anymore. They both feel scared and sad. It only gets scarier when they think about the fact that they're the only ones knowing.

"It's been almost nine years" Nayeon breaths out, her heart clenching in her chest

"This has never happened before. With anyone, Nayeon. I can't believe we didn't...you know" Jeongyeon says but stops herself when she sees Nayeon almost crying. "Look, I just... the longest was three years. It took us a year, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu a month, Mina and Momo two years and for them, it's been almost nine years. And there's nothing we can do about it. And what's even scarier is that we have no idea what's going to happen if they don't get it on already"

"Wow, thanks for making me worry even more than before, Jeongyeon" Nayeon rolls her eyes "But it doesn't count as nine years because if it does, to us it counts as more than 16 years. We've known each other our entire lives."

"Yeah, you're right." Jeongyeon licks her lips "It's only a month for them, but they don't have all the time in the world"

"I don't want us to fall apart, I don't want the drama and the tears and the awkward tension and whatever happens if they're an almost."

"Worrying about it doesn't help us at all so we should just... you know, be with each other. Just in case something bad happens" Jeongyeon caresses her girlfriend's arm

"God, I don't even want to think or talk about it" she puts her head on Jeongyeon's chest, the younger girl making circles with her thumb on her lower back. "Whatever happens within the group, nothing's gonna happen to us"

Jeongyeon almost says something but she bites (hard) on her tongue and stops herself. She kisses her girlfriend's head and looks over at Dahyun and Sana who are dancing like they're best friends but more and she wonders what happened in that closet. She hopes it is what she thinks. She knows there's no point, but still, she prays.

  
\---------

  
Dahyun is 19 years old. Almost 20. Her 20th birthday is on the first day of September and school starts in 3rd September. Tzuyu and Chaeyoung are also 19. Nayeon had recently turned 22 and the rest of them are all 21 years old.

You would think they can all cook, but there's nine of them and there's still the smell of burned eggs and toast from the kitchen. Eggs. And toast. They can't even cook eggs. Mina is supposed to be the best cook in the group of friends but she was too into Momo dancing with Nayeon that she forgot all about the fucking eggs.

"Let's just order some fucking food like I told you all we should do since the beginning, I am _starving_." Nayeon complains, making them laugh. "Do I have something on my face?" she randomly asks because her friends are laughing at something that wasn't even funny and the girls just shake their heads while Jeongyeon is ordering food 

"Yeah" Chaeyoung says all of a sudden 

"What is it?"

"Ugliness" the younger says, making everyone laugh

"Uhm, never experienced that emotion. Do you want whatever it is on my face,though?" she jumps into her lap, making the younger girl giggle. 

"Keep it! It suits you a lot!"

The order arrives after 20 minutes and when the second oldest girl opens the door, she pays the guy and gulps before quickly closing and locking the door. The dogs start barking and all the girls think it's because of the food so no one questions it (Jeongyeon is so relieved)

"How about you guys sleep over tonight?" she asks with hopeful eyes, Nayeon quickly catching the silent beg. She raises an eyebrow but the blonde shakes her head. 

"That sounds great" Nayeon simply adds and everyone else agrees

They start eating and Jeongyeon seems so off and out of this world that it scares Nayeon who also can't pay attention to whatever the other girls are talking about.

"How about we go out of the city? You guys have been spending most of your summers here, we should go somewhere else. For a few days at least." Jeongyeon suggests, looking at the three youngest before watching all of their reactions

"That sounds great"

"Do you guys agree with everything Jeongyeon says?" Jihyo asks laughing

"Absolutely fuckin' not" Nayeon laughs and for the first time in the last three days, the two of them share a genuine laugh. The last time they laughed was because of that one time Nayeon came out with a strap on which made Jeongyeon laugh until it turned them off.

(She didn't laugh that much the next day when Nayeon made her come three times with that same strap on)

They get out of the city. They drive in two different cars, Jeongyeon and Jihyo being the drivers. Sana and Dahyun are staying next to each other the entire nine hours long drive, in the same car with Jeongyeon, Momo and Mina. In Jihyo's car, Nayeon is sitting on the passenger seat, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu sitting in the back seat. They left the dogs at one of Jeongyeon's friends because they didn't want them to be alone. They eat a lot, sing a lot, the couples kiss a lot, and they don't sleep at all.

They stay at the beach house Mina rented for the entire week and Sana says Momo has a sugar mommy, which makes them all laugh. They arrive late at night and even though they're all exhausted, especially the drivers, they still make time to go to the beach (after taking a shower which went fast because the couples showered together) and spend some time together, all nine of them. 

Jeongyeon's hair is so soft and Nayeon's hands are in it the entire two hours they spend at the beach. It gets both of them feeling some kind of way and they decide they should give themselves a break over all this worrying so they're the first to leave. Every couple have their own room so Sana and Dahyun are paired up, of course, and Jihyo is Chaeyoung and Tzuyu's roommate but still, the others don't leave the beach because they know how loud Nayeon can be.

After another hour, the rest of them start heading back to the beach house and they hang out in the living room, fresh air in the entire room. Nayeon is only wearing panties and Jeongyeon's shirt which makes the other girls fake throwing up. They've seen each other naked before, they just love teasing each other.

Mina and Jihyo start cooking ramen for the other girls from the living room who are talking while waiting for the food to be ready, Jeongyeon having her head on Nayeon's shoulder who has an arm around her girlfriend. There's a fresh hickey on Nayeon's neck and Dahyun closes her eyes, taking a deep breath at the picture inside her head of Sana staying above her, with messy hair, swollen and red lips from all the kissing, looking all satisfied with her work of art. Sana's eyes meet hers the moment she opens up her eyes and she stops breathing for a few seconds because she feels like Sana is thinking about something similar. She knows Sana is into her as much as she is into Sana, and it makes it so much harder but at the same time, sensual. Then she starts feeling dumb because they're both craving each other and they're not doing anything about it. 

"You know, maybe we should still talk to them. To explain it to them before we leave" Jeongyeon whispers to Nayeon

"Are you kidding me? No. We said no since the beginning. Why are you changing now? No, shut up and eat Mina's ramen"

"That sounds weird but ok" Jeongyeon laughs, lazily kissing her girlfriend's soft cheek

After a few minutes, Nayeon speaks up.

"Did you know that sharks don't think period blood is actually blood?"

They all stop eating and the youngest looks at the oldest, letting out a deep sigh.

"You should have just sat there and ate your fucking food, Nayeon" Tzuyu says, trying hard not to laugh.

"Not my fault y'all bitches wanted to go to the beach instead of resting, I went to sleep exhausted, I woke up exhausted, so you're all going to listen to my tired 4am thoughts. Also, do you all remember that episode of Grey's Anatomy with the wor-"

They start screaming over Nayeon's loud voice just for them not to hear her say the actual thing even if all of them are already picturing that disgusting episode with the worms. Nayeon stops talking and even if Jeongyeon thinks she's a dumbass, she's her dumbass who makes all her worries go away and makes her laugh even when she feels like crying. So she gently grabs the back of her head and pulls her into a kiss. She feels the girl melt into the kiss and _God_ , when she _feels_ her smile into it she knows they're never breaking up. She's taking this girl to the altar and she's going to put a ring on her finger.

"What was that for?" Nayeon asks in awe, not being able to open her eyes

"I love you" she doesn't answer her question, but the question is long forgotten.

"I love you." 

Mina and Momo are the first ones to wake up the next morning. They do their morning routine, they get dressed and Mina drives them up to the café. The place is so cozy and warm and even if it's summer and it's the best to drink in a café in the winter, the couple still enjoy their time together because even though they love the other girls to death, they do want some time alone. And it's really early so it's not that hot. They talk about the past and how in love they were and are with each other, and laugh at how good things turned out to be. They also talk about how gay Sana was before they all knew what gay even meant. They talk about Sana and Dahyun and how they're sure they're soulmates. They come to the conclusion that they are all soulmates. The two of them Chaeyoung with Tzuyu, Jeongyeon with Nayeon and Jihyo with Rosé. And how, the nine of them, as a group of friends, are soulmates too.

Jihyo, Jeongyeon and Nayeon wake up shortly after the first two, and they do the same thing. Instead of going to a café, they go to the grocery store around the corner for some shopping because as much as they love ramen, they can't live an entire week just with it. They also share kindergarten, primary, middle, high school and some college stories. They talk about Rosé and how Jihyo will forever be grateful to Nayeon for introducing her to the beautiful girl whom she loves so much. They know Jihyo is enjoying the time with them but they also know she can't wait to see her girlfriend who is currently in another country.  So they stop talking about her when they notice her sad smile, and they start making fun of each other which was a thing they did since primary school. Only the nine of them can make fun of each other. If anyone dares to even look at one of them in the wrong way, they might as well leave the country. They also talk about Sana and Dahyun and how they should just "get it one already". Jeongyeon and Nayeon share a look and their entire mood is ruined.

Chaeyoung and Tzuyu wake up next and they go to a library where the younger girl reads a book and the older girl draws something that isn't supposed to be an _actual_ something.

It's a line here and a dot there, but somehow it forms a face and it turns out to be Tzuyu's face. Tzuyu forgets all about the book as soon as her girlfriend finishes drawing and her heart melts when she sees her own face being on that piece of paper. She kisses her girlfriend and it tastes like honey. Chaeyoung does like her girls like she likes her honey; sweet, a little selfish. Or not selfish at all because Tzuyu has the biggest heart. Whenever Tzuyu makes new friends, most of them say "You don't speak a lot" but what is she supposed to talk to someone she just met nine seconds ago? Tzuyu doesn't speak a lot because she likes to listen. To Chaeyoung, she listens a lot and speaks a lot. She has moments when she talks to Dahyun, or Sana, or Mina a lot. Or to all of them. But she talks the most with Chaeyoung. They talk about some new movie they couldn't see, they talk about that one time Chaeyoung thought Tzuyu was in love with Jeongyeon and they laugh about it. It does have meaning when people say you shouldn't get upset over things you're going to laugh about in the future. They talk about Sana and Dahyun and how right they are for each other and how well they fit.

Sana and Dahyun are the last ones to wake up. Sana wakes up 25 minutes before the younger girl and even if she could go to have a drink alone, she waits for her to wake up. She looks outside, the wind messing her hair, but she doesn't care. She closes her eyes and enjoys the fresh air until Dahyun comes down the stairs with a messy bun and sleepy eyes, making Sana's heart flutter at the sight.

"Hey sleepy head" Sana says all of a sudden, Dahyun stops walking and looks at how gorgeous Sana is. The sunlight is hitting her eyes and they look like honey. She has a warm smile on her lips and her hair is messy from the wind but it looks so pretty. Sana almost melts at the way Dahyun is looking at her.

Her pale cheeks start burning under Sana's gaze and the younger girl sits in front of the older girl, mumbling a raspy "hey" which makes the black haired girl bite her lips.

"You really love cuddling, huh? Do you cuddle with all the girls you meet?" she teases the girl, only for it to backfire

"Not really. I only cuddle with people I'm really close to or whenever I'm not feeling well, I'm sad or tired. And I was neither of those things last night so you must mean a lot to me"

Her lips almost part at the response and the news but she won't let the paler girl win. Not that easy, at least.

"You must mean a lot to me, too, because even if I love cuddles, I never cuddle with someone until the morning because my arm always hurts. Last night it didn't even hurt me."

Dahyun blushes and curses herself out for blushing so fast and early in the morning because of Sana.

There's no point to say anything else because Sana's already won and the pink color in Dahyun's cheeks are enough of an answer.

"What do you wanna do? All the girls are out and I'm sure they won't be coming home until dinner."

"Well, we should have breakfast then"

"It's a date."

They eat a small restaurant and they share more than just food. They share stories, they make jokes, they laugh at things only they understand. It's been a month and a bit since they've met and they still have things to talk about. They talk about Dahyun's family and Sana's heart breaks because Dahyun is trying so hard to find an excuse for the way her family is acting. Sana tells Dahyun about her own family and how they're not really that close either. Dahyun realizes Chaeyoung isn't close to her family either. Neither is Tzuyu. Sana realizes the same thing about Momo and Mina. Maybe this is the thing that brought them together - their broken families. After they pay (Dahyun pays for Sana's food after two minutes of complaining and trying to change her mind) and then they're off in the park. Sana buys Dahyun ice cream and they sit on the bench, looking at each other.

"You have really beautiful eyes" Dahyun says all of a sudden after talking about some TV show. Sana stops eating the ice cream and looks at the girl in front of her. "I have brown eyes myself, and most people do, and so I never saw brown eyes in a special way. Until I saw yours. So whenever I say that brown eyes are my favorite, just know I'm talking about yours."

Sana's heart is beating so fast she's afraid Dahyun might heart it so she tries to calm herself down but how can she be calm when the girl she's in love with is talking about her like that? All she wants to do is grab her and kiss her. Show her how much she likes her. But there are old people around them and she might give them a heart attack.

"They're like chocolate and I don't even like chocolate but I love yours. Especially when sunlight hits your brown eyes... it's just so beautiful I can't even describe it. It's like gold, though. It looks like gold. Or like a sunset. Yeah, like a sunset" Dahyun smiles, proud at the description. "Also, I love the way you look at people. No wonder so many people love talking to you, because you always have that look on your face, like you're giving them your entire attention and you are, and I think that's so precious and beautiful."

"You're one to talk, you literally have brown eyes, too. It's the same thing for you. When sunlight hits your eyes, it's like a sunset. And when it doesn't, they're just as beautiful, because they're yours and everything about you is beautiful." her face is shaking from the emotions and Dahyun bites her lower lip, trying to keep herself from tearing up because their compliments are so genuine and it makes them feel warm. "And I might pay a lot of attention to people, but just know you're the one I care about the most"

"I think... I might be a little bit in love with you" Dahyun whispers so gently that if Sana wasn't paying a lot of attention like she is now, she wouldn't have heard her

Sana almost cries right there and then. "I think...I'm really in love with you, Dahyunnie"

She can't hold back anymore but she doesn't want to kiss her in a park with old people and children so she gently grabs her cheeks and kisses the corner of her mouth, making sure for the kiss to be longer than a normal kiss on the cheek. A part of their lips touch and it makes their head spin so they can't wait until they feel it all. She pulls back and they share shy smiles, Sana making another step by grabbing her hand and playing with her fingers.

They've never been this happy in their entire lives.

They're just... a little bit _too_ happy.

  
\---------

  
The nine of them spend the entire week together. They get drunk in clubs and they dance until their feet hurt, they eat in fancy restaurants and they get a little tipsy until they can't kiss their love anymore because they're smiling too much. At some point a very drunk Mina gently taps with her finger on Nayeon's bunny teeth while saying "knock knock" and it makes them both giggle and blush, the others softly laughing along. They spend half of their day at a festival. Dayhun wins Sana a shiba inu plush, Momo wins Mina a penguin, Jeongyeon wins Nayeon a bunny, Tzuyu wins Chaeyoung a lion and Sana wins Jihyo a minion. They still don't know how Sana managed to win at a game, but she did. Maybe her love for Jihyo had something to do with it. 

They get drunk and high, they sing songs at the top of their lungs, the couples have a lot of sex, they even go fishing which ends up with Jeongyeon pushing Nayeon off the boat and all of them scaring the fish off (not that they were even planning on catching any). Nayeon acts like she doesn't know how to swim and for a second Jeongyeon's smile completely disappears, only to remember that Nayeon _can_ swim. Dahyun jumps in immediately and it makes Sana jump in. Jihyo jumps too, even if she knows Nayeon can swim, and at some point all of them are swimming around the older girl. Jeongyeon catches Nayeon's smile and it melts her heart. She looks happy. Careless, almost.

They do a BBQ in the backyard and Jeongyeon steals a piece of meat which she shares with Momo. The rest of the girls can't even get upset at them because they're too cute. They watch a romantic movie at the drive in. Someway along the movie, Jeongyeon and Nayeon watch another movie, which is Sana looking at Dahyun. It's better than the actual movie and the couple watch as the almost couple lean towards each other, share food and shy smiles and the way they look at each other... the way they look at each other makes Nayeon and Jeongyeon forget all about the actual movie they should be watching. They play games from their childhood, Mina and Sana show a fast game they do with their arms and it makes Dahyun fall in love with her even more and the rest of them watch in awe.

On the fifth day at the beach house, they have a water balloon fight and at night, they go under the bridge to catch fireflies. They don't catch that many, Momo, Dahyun and Nayeon trip a lot and Chaeyoung is too short. Tzuyu catches one for her and carefully gives it to her girlfriend before they set it free together. Mina also catches one for Momo who's scared to take it away from her but Mina assures her and they also set it free together. Sana catches one (which surprises them all) and sets it free in front of Dahyun, watching as her face lights up while watching the firefly fly into the night. Sana doesn't watch it because she thinks Dahyun's reaction is so much important and precious, and there are thousands of fireflies. There is only one Dahyun.  
   
Dahyun loves stars but they don't compare to the stars in Sana's eyes. She has the most beautiful kind of stars in her eyes and Dahyun never wants to look away.

On the night of the sixth day, around 11:39pm, they arrive home from a restaurant and they hang out on the beach. Dahyun is sitting next to Chaeyoung, everyone listening to Jihyo's complains about getting sunburned so Nayeon puts some cream on her back. They might love to tease each other, but they adore taking care and being there for each other the most. Chaeyoung gets out the bucket list and they see that most of the things on it, have a simple, long line over them. Dahyun tells her to cut "overcome a fear". She rode a rollercoaster a few weeks ago only because Sana wanted to. The short haired girl mumbles "whipped" as she does so. She tells her to cut over one more thing before Nayeon interrupts them.

"What's that?"

"Nothing" Chaeyoung immediately responds, shoving the piece of paper into her shorts

"Let me see" Jeongyeon says way too excited and Dahyun only shrugs because she knows they don't have an escape out of this.

The younger girl gives Jeongyeon the piece of paper and mumbles "annoying ass" to the blonde before the named girl starts reading out loud the first things because she thinks they're adorable. Then she notices the bucket list took a turn because she's saying "Fall in love is no longer on the bucket list!" and then realizes what she said. Sana already knows but hearing it out loud from one of her friends that Dahyun is in love (no one says she's in love with Sana but everyone knows) makes Sana feel something like a sparkle and she's _sure_ , as she watches her love hiding her face with her hair. The paler girl is expecting a lot of teasing from the two oldest of the group but when she doesn't hear any, she looks straight at Sana and sends her a shy smile, her cheeks burning once again. She then look at her two friends, who are looking at each other with relieved, soft smiles. Then they start.

"Ok now you only need to get laid and your list is completed" and both Sana and Dahyun feel like their cheeks are in flames at Nayeon's words

"I told you two it would happen" Chaeyoung shrugs, looking at her girlfriend and her best friend. "Well I mean I had my doubts. You've never talked with a girl in a romantic way in your entire life so you understand where I'm coming from" she looks at her best friend.

Sana looks at Dahyun and decides to speak up.

"You know how soulmates are sometimes very different but somehow they have something in common and they all fit? Like Momo and Mina, they're so different. Mina is elegant and mature while Momo is a baby and trips every two seconds, but they're both soft and they're the same person when they dance. Nayeon and Jeongyeon aren't that different because they both live by teasing everyone close to them, they both fight a lot, but are also really soft and cry a lot. Chaeyoung speaks a lot, doesn't stand anyone's bullshit, doesn't really worry about stuff, while Tzuyu doesn't speak a lot, she lets people talk over her a lot until she snaps, and she worries a lot. But they both speak up their mind no matter what. Jihyo and Rosie are different but not so much because Jihyo is loud all the time while Rosie only speaks every 15 minutes and has a soft voice, Jihyo doesn't let anyone shit on her while Rosie is shy and doesn't know what to do when people fight. Still, they complete each other because one's flaw disappears when they're with their person. Or, it becomes a quality."

"Keep talking like that and I'll fall for you" Momo says jokingly, Sana and Mina giggling

Sana looks at her best friends and how everyone is looking at their girlfriend, Jihyo smiling at the sky, thinking that even if she and her girlfriend are miles apart, they're looking at the same sky (she knows it's cheesy and she hates it, but the thought calms her worried heart). Dahyun is the only one looking straight at her and they share warm smiles before Jihyo breaks the silence.

"So what if you two are soulmates? Sana knows how to flirt, you've had girlfriends before, you've had your first kiss and other firsts but  it was always...empty. While Dahyun's never been in a relationship and she hasn't had her first kiss and from what I've heard, she _knows_ how to flirt" she sends them both a look before continuing "You're both scared of thunderstorms and you hug each other whenever there is one. You're both dreamers, you both talk about a lot of deep things, things only you two can understand, you're both in love with the universe and everything that happens after we die"

Sana sends Dahyun a shy smile and it's hard to break the eye contact but she does because she wants to look at the others too.

"And just like us, the nine of us, we're so different from each other but at the same time not so much. It's hard to explain it to anyone else but we understand it and we make it work and that's what's so beautiful about it. In the beginning, we were so damn different from each other I was sure if we all met each other in high school, we wouldn't have gotten along. But when we all met, somehow we got along. And the most beautiful thing is that along the way, we started to be each other. We started saying each other's lines, thinking "what would one of the others do". If you look around us, you find a piece of yourself in every single one of us, because we left a mark in this group of friends. Because _this_ " she makes a sign between them "This is more than a group of friends. We're a piece of each other and we will always be"

Jeongyeon starts tearing up, followed by Nayeon and Jihyo, then Dahyun and suddenly all of them are crying, even Tzuyu. They hug each other and they cry some more, and Jeongyeon shares a look with Nayeon, the silent "everything will be ok" shared between the two of them.

"Shit, all I did was make fun of Dahyun's virgin ass"

"I think everyone's ass is virgin around here, Chaeyoung" Jeongyeon says with a laugh, wiping off her tears

"You know what I meant"

"Also, just want to point out that Sana legit went all "This is not a competition, we are a team"  Nayeon says which makes all of them laugh loudly

They share some more stories, saying how they're sure they've known Dahyun in an another universe because there's too many deja vu moments between them and how they've never felt completed before Dahyun showed up so Chaeyoung snorts because this entire thing is so cheesy but this cheesy stuff made her cry like a baby a few minutes ago. Most of them start going back inside around midnight, but Chaeyoung, Tzuyu, Sana and Dahyun don't leave just yet.

Because she's cold, Sana sits on Dahyun's lap. Something changes the moment she does, so Tzuyu elbows Chaeyoung who suddenly gets up with a yelp, heads snapping towards her.

"Don't forget that tomorrow is a free day so if you don't hook up now, don't come inside at all because everyone's gonna be wildin' the entire day and night" Chaeyoung laughs and Tzuyu laughs while rolling her eyes, dragging her girlfriend away but not before saying goodbye and before they both send a "be calm, just go with the flow" kind of look before disappearing inside the house. "Fine on the outside" from Marnie Was There starts playing and they silently listen the lyrics, but they realize they've both seen the movie so they start talking about it and how shocked they were at the plot twist. 

"Lonely" by Billie Eilish and Khalid starts playing and they listen to the song, talking about how it makes sense. How they can relate to it. They both wanted to escape their home towns and this place was like a magnet, always attracting them towards it. The lyrics "Hello, welcome home" hits them harder than it should have. Only then do they realize Chaeyoung has this entire playlist planned for them and how every song is meant to calm them down and how they relate to every single one of them. Dahyun loves Chaeyoung.

"New York" by Andrew Belle starts playing next and they get so much closer, hugging each other so much tighter. They forgot all about the cold and the only thing they can hear beside the song is the sea and its sounds, and if they listen closely they can hear each other's heartbeats. Billie Eilish's "Ocean Eyes" start playing and at first Dahyun thinks this is her best friend's obsession with the singer but even if they both have brown eyes, not blue ones, they do relate to the song. "I've been watching you, for some time" makes Sana sigh, "I've been walking through a world gone blind" and "I'm scared I've never fallen from quite this high" hits oh so close for them.

"Your heart is beating really fast" Dahyun whispers even if it's just the two of them, nuzzling her nose into the older girl's hoodie, close to her neck. Sana has her hands around her shoulder and Dahyun has hers around her waist. So whenever the shorter girls speaks, her lips touch Sana's neck, which makes her shiver.

"You kind of do that to me" Sana smiles down at her, stroking her hair.

"Good. Because you do that to me, too" she says over the music

"Dahyunnie" Sana gently whispers

"Hmm?"

"I have to tell you something"

Dahyun pulls away from the calming smell of Sana's hoodie and looks into the eyes of the girl she's been falling in love ever since they've met. Sana tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and almost leans in to kiss her forehead.

"I heard you, that night. I was on the other side of the fence. I felt like a creep for listening to you so I got up to leave but... then I heard you telling a story about getting heart broken for the first time in your life and it felt like someone was telling... _my_ story but from another perspective."

Dahyun's heart stops beating before it drops. The song ends and another one starts playing. "Finish What We Started" by Jessie Ware.

"I always felt like I've known you. Like I've been waiting for something and that something came to me when I met you."

_Wanna be closer than close. Baby you already know, I want you, I want you_

"Wait... are you saying that you were the noise I heard back then?" Sana nods, adding an "mhm". "You're saying that the church girl I fell in love with years ago... that was you?" Sana gently nods, tears in her eyes. "And you're saying that I fell in love with you because of a few smiles and I fell in love with you now, again?" she keeps asking, receiving another nod from the girl in her lap. "And you're also saying that you wore that cute hoodie"

Sana starts giggling and she leans in, almost pressing their lips together but she stops herself for the hundredth time. It's only because she wants to kiss her so bad and also because it's like they're already dating.

_Tell me the door isn't closed, I'm telling you nobody knows, I want you, I want you_

"Yes, I still have that hoodie. I wanted to tell you for a long time I just... didn't want to crush your dreams or something" she shyly admits, suddenly feeling insecure. "By the way, that was my worst Christmas too, because I didn't see you again."

"Sana, no" Dahyun immediately shakes her head. "God, no. I spend so much time thinking about the girl from the church, about you" she corrects herself with a smile on her lips "and how you're doing, and you're everything I've dreamed of and so much more. I really couldn't ask for a better person. And I can't... I can't believe you're her. The girl of my dreams."

_I've been waiting here, I deserve this kiss_

"You have no idea what you do to me." Sana whispers, gently grabbing the younger's pale cheeks into her hands, feeling the soft skin growing hotter against her skin. "I was just as happy when I found out you're the girl I fell in love with all those years ago. You make me crazy, Dahyun"

"You fell for me back then?"

"I did. And I fell for you once again, now"

_Are we gonna finish what we started? Only one thing left here to do. Are we gonna finish what we started? Or we end._

"Does anyone else know about this? I mean, Chaeng knows about the church girl, but she doesn't know it's you. Obviously."

"Momo knows. I told everyone about you, my mom and dad knew I was gay because of you. Because I kept talking about you and your precious smile. Even years after, I still looked after you. Every girlfriend I had, I hoped their smiles were similar to yours but none compared to yours. I still looked after you whenever I was out, hoping to see and talk to you. God, you really made me fall for you with one smile"

"My grandma kept asking me if I knew you and God, I really wish I did. But we know each other now and I won't waste my time regretting not knowing you sooner."

_When you look at me that way I run out of reasons to say. I don't want you but I want you._

"I kept asking about you around because I came to the church for some of my friends and everyone knew you but no one knew your damn name and I was so mad and in love and I couldn't tell anyone. Until I finally broke and told Chaeng about you and God, did she tease me about it for years"

Sana giggles and hugs Dahyun closely, their heartbeats beating at once. They've never been this happy and they don't know how to share this feeling but they know they want to share it with each other so they keep hugging. Then, it all changes. The moment Sana's grip on her loosens, it all changes. There's tension between them, the music still playing. The black haired girl pulls away first and she smells Dahyun's shampoo, her heart beating fast.

_Words from my mouth can't explain what the rest of my body is saying. I want you, I want you. I've been waiting here, I deserve this kiss_

Their noses bump against each other in the darkness and they're sharing silly smiles. They're nervous, but they're in love, and that's ok.

"What are you doing to me?" Sana whispers, her warm breath hitting Dahyun's lips, making her lick her lips. "I've never been this in love with anyone, you make me feel so safe, Dahyun-ah. Isn't it crazy? How you make me feel like home? Or how we found each other after years of searching for each other?"

"I think what you said today... it's true. We're meant to be"

Usually Sana takes control but she wants to make sure that Dahyun wants this as much and as bad as she does. So she bumps her sharp nose into Dahyun's again, making them both smile. The younger girl simply nods and Sana smiles softly before she presses their lips together. She feels the Korean girl freezing at the feeling so she pulls away and gently caresses her soft cheeks.

"It's ok. It's me."

Dahyun didn't freeze because she wasn't sure she wanted to be kissed by Sana or because she didn't like it. She froze because there were so many feelings at once and she didn't know what to do with them. But now she knows. She wants to give all her love to Sana and for now, to put all her love into this kiss. The butterflies in her stomach are going crazy, her heart is beating faster than Nayeon jumping in to defend Jeongyeon, her head is spinning, her lips against Sana's gives her a tingling sensation and there is a spark between the two of them which makes her entire body feel like she's on fire. She's sure she wants this and she loves it. So she kisses her back.

She tightens the grip on her waist and Sana raises an eyebrow. Dahyun lowers her gaze, focusing on Sana's lips, craving the feeling of their lips pressed together again. She pulls her closer by her waist and their lips meet once again. All the feelings from before return, stronger than before, and it's so beautiful because Sana feels something she's been craving for years. They tilt their heads in opposite directions and the girl on top starts to gently move her lips, Dahyun following her (and memorizing everything because she wants to do this with Sana forever).

Her strong grip on her waist is driving Sana insane, especially because her grip tightens every now and then. She has so much to say through actions but she also has to take it slow, and it's the best and most frustrating thing. She gently grabs the back of her head, playing with the baby hair. Sana moves her head in the other direction, making Dahyun move her head in the opposite direction while their lips almost move to the beat of the song.

Dahyun's lips are the softest part of Dahyun's body, Sana decides. Part of her body she's touched already, she quickly adds. They taste like sweet watermelon and Sana's taste like strawberry and it's the sweetest thing they've ever tasted. Their bodies tangle together and they fit in like they were crafted for each other. Dahyun doesn't know a lot about kissing but she loves the way she feels Sana's unsteady breathing and how their lips move together.

They don't kiss at her grandparent's house where all the magic happens, but it's still magical. 

Sana suddenly pulls away and gently throws her leg over Dahyun's lap, hoping she's not messing it up by going a bit farther away from _just_ kissing, now completely facing each other. They're so close, their breasts pressed against each other and Sana almost moans when Dahyun kisses her first this time. She pulls harder on her waist and when Sana finally moans, Dahyun loses her mind.

She wants to hear the sound again but she also just wants to do it so her hands go to Sana's ass and gently grasps the flesh there making Sana break this kiss. Their lips are ghosting over each other, their mouths slightly opened. The silver haired girl looks up at Sana, watching her eyes closed and when their eyes meet, they start kissing again, her hands staying on her bottom. She grips harder once again, this time making her moan in her mouth. There's a lot of sounds Sana makes and Dahyun loves them all. Even when she's randomly barking with Nayeon. She loves it all. She just loves it.

Something gently hits her cheek. Sana's sun bracelet.

They don't realize that the song is playing all over again, Chaeyoung putting this song as the last, hoping it would sparkle something between them. It does. She's never been this nervous about a playlist before but as she watches from inside the house, she smiles because it worked just fine so she flips her hair, jumping on Tzuyu's lap, kissing her happily. She says "Remember when we were just like that?" and Tzuyu's jaw drops, throwing her an "What do you _mean_ just like that, we still have sex almost every day and we still kiss like that, shut up and get on the bed so I can show you we still have it, girlfriend".

Momo screams a "Get it Sana!", even though she can't be heard, while Mina giggles next to her before dragging her away from the window. Jihyo smiles at her two friends before laying down on the bed, wishing that everything will be ok. Hoping, praying that everything will be the same, but better.

"You think this is it? This is what they have to do?" Jeongyeon asks, biting her lip nervously, looking at the sky because she feels weird looking at two of her best friends making out.

"It worked for all of us."

"Yeah but they're... Sana and Dahyun"

"I know" Nayeon sighs, remembering today is the seventh of July. "We still have a month and a half. It's ok. We're ok"

It feels refreshing, it feels like a new beginning. And she's sure it'll feel the same way every time they kiss. Sana suddenly forgets all about her favorite couples from her favorite dramas and decides she and Dahyun are her favorite couple. (So does Nayeon, Momo, Chaeyoung and all of them. There's not really a competition, anyway.)

_Are we gonna finish what we started? Only one thing left here to do. Are we gonna finish what we started? Or, or we end._

They stop kissing because they need to breathe, but the song keeps playing. They take a few breaks, then they kiss again, they take another break and move inside the house where they talk a bit, then they kiss some more because they need and crave each other so much. It doesn't feel like they've been waiting for a little bit over a month. It really feels like they've been waiting their entire lives.

And in some way, they did.

  
\---------

  
They do spend the last day at the beach house like Chaeyoung said. The couples have a lot of sex, so Jihyo gets out of the house because her mind isn't in the right place. Sana and Dahyun make out some more in the backyard on the hammock, in the pool, in the sea, on the couch, on the kitchen countertops, on the bed (which gets a little bit too heated because Sana is only in her bra and pants so they stop). They eat the same strawberry at some point and it starts something once again but this time they don't stop. They kiss each other and it tastes like strawberry and Dahyun used to hate the fruit, but now it's her favorite.

Jihyo comes back around 6pm and gathers all of her friends, putting on a happy face. They leave the beach house at 6:27pm and the drive back home isn't as happy as the drive at the beach house. The drive back home isn't as fun as the drive to the beach house. None of them feel good, not even the happy couples, and they all start throwing up. Jihyo blames that fucking pancake Nayeon baked and fed to all of them except Jeongyeon and herself. They throw up a lot, they don't sing at all, they barely talk and they sleep a lot. Jihyo almost smacks her when they arrive home but it's not like she forced them to eat it.

A month and a half passes by. It's the 29th of August, two days until Dahyun's birthday. The couples are happier than ever, Sana and Dahyun still haven't grown bored of kissing each other every day. There was this one day when Dahyun listened to Sana talking to Mina and Momo in Japanese for an entire hour and a half, only understanding two words, because she looked so cool and Japanese sounds good, but it sound so much better coming out from Sana's mouth. She really could listen to her all day. They're all happy except one couple. They're supposed to be on the way to the restaurant, but Nayeon is having a mental breakdown and it is _bad._

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, what the _fuck_ are we going to do, Jeongyeonnie?" her hands go to her own hair, her girlfriend gently taking them away. She holds them and starts caressing them with her thumbs.

"Hey, hey, it's ok. We've talked about this. We're gonna stay calm and tonight we'll notice what isn't working out and we'll make it happen somehow. If it's what we thing it is, it's simple. If it's the other thing, it's not like we can grind on each other to give them a sign"

"No but you're forgetting that we're friends and friends ask that kind of questions"

"Oh my God this is making my head hurt, let's just go"

They feed the dogs before they close the door and on the drive to the restaurant, the only thing that can be heard in the car is the radio (the music sucks, too). They force smiles on their faces when they arrive and out of instinct, they intertwine their hands together before sitting at the table, Jeongyeon sitting at the head of the table. They eat _a lot_ , they also drink a lot, except Jeongyeon and Jihyo who are the drivers for today (like most days). They talk a lot too, and the second oldest can't help but let her eyes find Nayeon's worried ones and it makes all of the food come right back up. She also looks at Sana and Dahyun being all in love, kissing every two minutes and the fact that she doesn't understand why the fuck it isn't working, also makes the food come right back up. So she just stops eating.

They get out of the restaurant after midnight and there's a cold breeze and there's a white path of...something behind them, kind of like fog. Dahyun thinks there's a storm coming. And she hates storms.

They arrive home at 1:41am and they all crash over at Dahyun's house because it's bigger than Jeongyeon's. Nayeon and Jeongyeon stay in the same room, but sleep isn't an option. They stay awake and it takes longer than expected for Nayeon to start sobbing into her girlfriend's t-shirt. The storm starts as soon as Nayeon starts crying. They're ready to give up.

She doesn't stop for a really long time, longer than usually and Jeongyeon's protective side finally kicks in (she's been holding back for too long) and she gets up from the bed, waking up her friends. They're a little bit drunk so they don't get up that fast. When she opens the door of Sana and Dahyun's room, she sees the two of them sleeping, their naked bodies being covered by the sheets. There's a warm, soft and peaceful smile on both of their faces and it makes Jeongyeon's heart drop. Not even now.

"Wake up. Now. We're going for a ride" is the only thing she says before making sure it woke them up, and slamming the door behind her.

It's not their fault, but she can't help but be mad.

At 2:11, they're all in the cars. Jihyo said the two oldest shouldn't be in the same car or at least next to each other because there's a storm and it's late and they don't want to get into a car accident. Jeongyeon drives with Nayeon sitting in the passenger seat anyway, Mina, Chaeyoung and Momo in the backseat in this order. Jihyo is driving the other car with Tzuyu on the passenger seat and Dahyun and Sana in the backseat. Nayeon could've been the driver, but she kept insisting on being in the same car with Jeongyeon that Jihyo just gave up on them and let them be even if she said they shouldn't be in the same car. Nayeon also told Jihyo to let Sana be in the same car with Dahyun, which Jihyo agreed to because she just wanted her friend to shut up already. All of them feel sick during the ride, except the drivers, and they know it's that damn wine.

There's a downpour outside and Jeongyeon is getting closer to the destination. When _the_ song starts playing on the radio, she looks for a second at Nayeon, and it's a mistake because they almost start shaking.

_When this rain falls on my head, I’ll get all wet, even my heart. Stay with me, I still can’t be in the rain alone without you._

Sana holds Dahyun's hand and smiles sleepily at her girlfriend, knowing there are only three, but very important words left unspoken between them. The cars go into the fog with rain pouring on them. She whispers the words and it changes everything.

_I’m still young, I’m still a bit scared. Though I know it’ll stop soon, I’m looking for you_

"I think...I might love you a little bit"

It feels as if they have already said these words to each other, and she feels like the puzzle is finally complete. They don't get to kiss, because just at _this_ puzzle is completed, something else is completed. Dahyun doesn't answer.

  
_"Our babies are finally joining us for college" Sana kisses her girlfriend's soft and warm from the alcohol (but mostly because of Sana) cheeks._

_"That's your baby, not ours" Jihyo says from behind the steering wheel, laughing. "No, but for real. I'm really happy you all get to join us. After this summer, all of us will be together again, finally, after a year of waiting. And it will be all of us, together, and everything will be ok. No more tears, no more sadness,no more missing each other. Right?"_

_"Right" Sana smiles while looking at Tzuyu and Dahyun_

_In the other car, Nayeon's hands creep up on her girlfriend's thigh. There's a storm outside and some kind of fog, so Jeongyeon only looks at her for a second before turning her attention back at the road. Still, she holds her hand._

_A beautiful, yet sad song begins playing and Jeongyeon turns up the volume just a little bit more, listening to the first verse. In the other car, Sana's hands finds Dahyun's, and while looking at her, softly singing the lyrics, she knows._

_"I think...I might love you a little bit"_

_Dahyun's heartbeat quickens at the words and she suddenly turns her attention to her girlfriend, watching her with tears in her eyes, just like Sana is watching her reaction, teary eyed. Her heart is going crazy and her stomach is doing that thing, but she's sure, so she doesn't waste any time._

_"I think...I might love you a lot"_

_In Jeongyeon's car, Mina says something that warms their hearts. She's a little bit drunk from that wine they drank at the restaurant today, (mostly yesterday since it's 3:21 in the morning)_

_Will it stop now? These raindrops, these tears? I don’t want to get wet with rain and tremble with cold. Some day, the cold rain will become warm tears and fall down, it’s alright, it’s just a passing downpour._

_"I hope we stay together until we die"_

_Jeongyeon smiles at her in the rear view mirror._

_"We will."_

_And they do._

_Because the next thing they see or hear is a bright light, a loud horn, a drunk truck driver, a loud sound, and the next thing they feel is the truck's tail hitting Jeongyeon's car from the front, and Jihyo's car being hit from the side so hard, the car almost falling off the road. Both of the drivers tried to save themselves but it was a lost battle the second it started._

_It’s just a passing downpour, it’s how I feel after I met you, I haven’t lost the happy memories to the rain_

_The last thing Dahyun remembers is Sana's hand in hers before they get pulled apart._

_Chaeyoung and Tzuyu are lying next to each other, their heads touching. Momo is lying on her back, close to Mina who is lying on her front. Jihyo is on top of the car, glass all over her and Jeongyeon is on top of Nayeon, their hands still intertwined. She tried saving at least her when the truck hit them and she realized there was no escape. She tried shielding her, but it didn't work. It didn't work because they're both lying on the cold, wet ground, lifeless._

_The last thing that went through Jeongyeon's mind was "I'm glad I had eight people who loved me more than I loved myself"_

_When the rain stops, let's meet again, we will smile again and be together._

_Dahyun is the only one still alive after the impact because the truck didn't hit her side. It hit Sana, and Tzuyu, and Jihyo jumped out of the car through the window completely and she can't even see them in the rain and fog. She's panicking, yelling for her friends - she doesn't even notice the pain in her stomach. She looks down and sees a metal bar sticking out of her stomach, blood all over her, being washed away by the rain. Her screams can't be heard over the truck's alarm or over the rain or over the damn song still playing from Jihyo's car. She tries getting up from the ground but it's too painful and she knows she's dying. And she's dying far away from her friends. The worst thing is the fact that she knows all of her friends are already dead. Her girlfriend is dead._

_She starts crying and she thinks, if she's already dying, because no one will find her in time, and the metal bar is keeping her blood in but it also makes it impossible for her to get up, she might as well die next to her girlfriend. With screams and pain she pulls out the bar, and she tries to run while holding her bleeding stomach but she falls on the ground once again. There's blood coming out of her mouth and she can barely breathe, but still, she tries to find Sana. She tries to get up from the ground, but she falls right back down. She holds her stomach and sobs. She can't even see Sana through the fog but she can hear the damn song._

_I’m getting all wet right now, I don’t even have the strength to open an umbrella. But we know. Let me just cry for a moment as I lean on the rain so you won’t see our sad tears._

_This summer was supposed to be a new beginning, not the end._

_The last thing she sees is two of her friends lying on the ground next to her, the blood being washed away by the pouring rain. The last thing she has in her mind, and heart, is everything about Sana._

_She dies next to Chaeyoung and Tzuyu._

_Now goodbye._

  
Jeongyeon stops the car outside the road, Jihyo doing the same. They get out of the car. Some of them lean against the cars, others throw up, Nayeon starts sobbing. None of them care about the rain.

"What the fuck was that?" 

"That..." Jeongyeon begins with tears strolling down her face and a shaky voice, looking at her girlfriend then at her friends. "was our past life"

Chaeyoung stays quiet, just like the rest of them.

"What? What do you mean?" Dahyun asks, trying not to laugh because this is ridiculous but she feels the pain in her stomach and the blood in her mouth. Her hand immediately goes to her stomach.

Jeongyeon looks at the watch on her wrist, only 21 minutes left; it's 3am.

"I need to tell you guys something so I need you to listen because we don't have the time" she starts, voice shaking

She didn't prepare for this. Neither did Nayeon. Their friends weren't supposed to find out like this, they weren't supposed to find out from them at all. They were supposed to find out only after going into the light. Not like this. She tries to say something, some of the words she thought she would tell them if she had to but she didn't think about them for too long because the chance was small back then. Her words get caught in her throat and she starts crying which makes them all cry because Jeongyeon only cries when there's something serious.

"We... we died in our past life. The memory you just had, that was our past life" she explains through the tears

"What the hell are you saying? That we're dead? Ghosts? That this is heaven? That we're in heaven?" Jihyo yells 

"Do you think all of us just shared the same damn thought, Jihyo?" Nayeon screams back over the rain

"Listen to me! Stop talking!" Jeongyeon shouts, making them all shut up. "Nayeon and I are the only ones who knew what happened way before this memory showed up. We had the same memory when we first kissed and we don't know for sure why Chaeyoung didn't have the same memory when she kissed Tzuyu or Momo with Mina or you guys, but we think that the reason why we remembered is because there was a contact between us and when we died, we were holding hands. The reason why Chaeyoung and Tzuyu were the first ones to find each other in the after life was because they were really close to each other when they died, their heads touching. And the reason why Mina and Momo were the third couple to find each other was because they died close to each other"

"The reason why you two took so long" Nayeon tells Sana and Dahyun "is because you died far away from each other."

"So what? People that die far away from their loved ones or people that die at different times, they never meet again?" Momo asks, wanting to laugh because this seems like the prank of the year

"I have no idea, Momo. If they're at peace they'll cross over but if they're not, they'll stay in this place until their signifcant other appears and they have to find each other. We don't even know if something will happen if we don't cross over in a few minutes but we're not trying to find out."

They finish the 5% of their explanation. 18 more minutes. Jeongyeon looks at her friends who are all confused, crying, shaking, scared and freezing.

"You've known Chaeyoung and Tzuyu your entire life here because you died next to them. That's what we think" Nayeon tells Dahyun

"We don't know why. We don't know if other people go through the same thing. M-maybe we died but we weren't at peace because we couldn't find each other. Maybe when Rosé will die she'll be at peace and you'll meet again" she looks at Jihyo

"So what you're saying is that you don't have answers, right?" Jihyo asks and she only gets more annoyed when she sees Nayeon and Jeongyeon nodding

"Why aren't we getting out of here? Why, we aren't at peace yet? We've found each other already!" Momo asks through the sobbing

"We don't know either. It has something to do with Sana and Dahyun because the light that you see when you look over at most of us, that means we're at peace. The bright light that makes you look away. There's a light over them too, but not as bright. So we don't know what it is."

"Wait - so we're in heaven?" Tzuyu asks, not understanding, nor believing what is happening

"No, not heaven. We're someplace in the middle. We have to be at peace to cross over and some us already are but because of the accident or I don't why for sure, we're connected and we can't cross over unless we all do."

"And what happens if we don't cross over?" Mina asks

"We don't know for sure what happens if we don't cross over, but... I think we'll just disappear. We won't be together and we won't know each other because before we went at the beach house, when the guy with the food showed up, things outside the house were fading away. That's why I told you all we should leave for a little bit. So guys, please" Jeongyeon begs

"It wasn't the pancakes that made you guys ill. It wasn't the wine that made us all sick. It's the fact that we're running out of time" Nayeon adds

16 minutes.

"So basically, life is shit and we go through all the pain and _then_ we die and the afterlife is shit too?"

"We're hurting in this middle place we're in, yeah" Nayeon answers her. "But we won't feel any pain or sadness when we cross over."

"How do you know?! You keep saying you don't know for sure, why are you so sure about this light?!" Jihyo sobs

"What the fuck could there be bad about a light?" Jeongyeon throws her a look

"It could burn us alive" Dahyun murmurs, trying not to throw up

"W-what did you guys do that made the bright light appear?" Sana asks, trying to keep breathing

"We all kissed or had sex with our soulmate and it happened. You two did both of these things but it isn't working so think of something else."

Dahyun can't think properly. She can feel the pain from the metal bar so she kneels on the ground while holding her head with one hand and holding her stomach with the other. Sana kneels next to her, trying to talk to her but she can't really hear her on any of them because they're dead. They're all dead, herself included. She thinks of the future she could've had, a family with Sana. A family with all of her friends, their kids growing up and being friends with each other. She could've had all of that, but because of one drunk driver, she never will. And there's a chance they can't even be together in the after life. And above all of this, they're in the middle of heaven and hell.

She thinks about that time when Jeongyeon closed and locked the door. It was because the fog was starting to show up. Because they died after Dahyun's birthday in real life, and because they had to find each other until that date. She thinks about her dog, Max ,whom she lost when she was younger and thinks if maybe she will met him again. She thinks that her grandparents were only her imagination, or a reflection to make her not know she's dead, and how that's why there was a bright light behind them everytime she saw them. Because her grandparents are at peace, and her parents aren't dead yet. That's why her connection with her parents was always bad. It was all fake. She thinks about her friends and she can hear all of them crying after her. She remembers them. She remembers it all.

Jihyo thinks about her girlfriend and she can hear her destroying herself over her death, not going out of the house for months, spending time not eating or sleeping, only crying. Her heart breaks and she kneels down. She thinks about her family, about her friends. She had such a bright future, and now the only light she sees is the light over her head. She kneels down.

Jeongyeon and Nayeon are at peace, completely. They have heard their friends crying over them since the beginning, they thought about their families and how many dinner families they had together and how well they got along together. They thought about how Jeongyeon was going to propose at the beginning of September, when all nine of them were together. They thought and cried over the fact that they couldn't make a family together and how much Nayeon loves children, and how they can't have any of them. They're at peace, and they're ok with the idea. Still, they kneel down.

11 minutes.

Mina and Momo think about their families, about their dogs. They think about how in real life they've been together since the ninth grade and how they didn't go through the pain they went in this..."middle place". It makes them feel at peace, thinking and feeling how happy they were in real life and how happy they are now and if they're happy in this place, they can't wait for the happiness for when they cross over. They kneel together.

There's a wave of memories washing over them and they can't stop crying.

Sana thinks about her grandparents. She thinks about her families and how they must have felt over losing their only daughter. Her heart breaks at the thought and she starts sobbing. Dahyun holds her hand under the rain. She thinks about the dog she would've adopted with Dahyun;  a shiba inu. She thinks about the dog she lost when she was younger; Sasha.

"W-wait. What about the dogs? W-what are they?" Sana questions, the rain meeting her tears

"Dogs, or any pets, we think, are the only ones who can come from heaven in the middle. They cross over to make their leaders meet their soulmates so they can find peace and meet again in heaven. That's why Max pushed Dahyun to Sasha. So you guys could meet each other sooner. They're the dogs from your childhood, from real life. But they're dead."

9 minutes.

They keep repeating "oh my God" and "Jesus Christ" and "what the fuck" while crying and Nayeon's heart breaks.

"If I save the world, what will the world do for me?" she whispers before she calls their names. "Guys, we can't do this. Not now. There's time for answers. We went through so much already, so much pain. If we don't cross over, all the pain will come back and we won't be together to help each other go through it. Just like we fixed everything else, we _will_ fix this one too and cross over, together. All nine of us. So we can be happy together and meet again with our lost ones."

"I know it sucks" Jeongyeon jumps in "We all had plans in real life. You guys were only starting college and I was going to propose to Nayeon. Her words only make the others cry harder "her voice breaks, more tears coming out. "But at least we're in this together. We have each other through this, and it sucks and it isn't fair, but we _have_ to cross over"

5 minutes.

"Do you really wanna hang out and see that when the clock hits 3:21, there will be a truck coming and killing us, again and forever?"

"Someone stop that fucking song, I swear to God" Chaeyoung mumbles as "Downpour" keeps playing from the radio

"The song doesn't really matter right now, _please_ " Nayeon begs desperately "Dahyun, do you want to hear the "Now goodbye" and die again?"

Dahyun doesn't answer and Nayeon sighs.

"Guys, please keep thinking. If that clock hits 3:21, the truck _will_ come again and we will die. And we don't know for sure what will happen if we don't cross over."

"I know it's scary because you only have a few minutes to understand and accept what's going on and Nayeon and I had years, and it isn't fair and you know what else isn't fair? If we all get stuck here forever or we get thrown in hell because of you two and because the rest of you don't want to help them figure out what they have to do." she looks at Sana and Dahyun then at the rest of them

"We couldn't figure out what was missing in this month and we have _four_ minutes left so let's all put Mina's brain cell to work and figure this shit out so we can go in the light or whatever Ghost Whisperer shit"

"Ok, ok" Jihyo starts thinking, looking at Sana and Dahyun. "You guys kissed and had sex and you already confessed your love for each other so what is it that you didn't do? What, do you need to adopt a dog together?"

"You told each other something in the car. What was it?" Tzuyu helps her out

"I told her I love her" Sana admits and suddenly everyhing making sense

"Ok! That's it!" Jeongyeon screams 

"You just have to say it back" Chaeyoung tells them, nodding towards her best friend

Dahyun turns to look at her girlfriend and gently holds her hands. There's only two minutes left, all of the girls are looking at them, they're not drunk anymore but they're scared and still in shock from the news, and they're soaking wet, but she still looks at her like she's the love of her life (which she literally is) and in that moment the two of them realize that they truly are soulmates. So even if the moment wasn't perfect in the beginning, they make it be by simply holding hands looking into each other's eyes.

1 minute.

"I think...I might love you a lot"

This time she does get to say it and she gets to kiss her girlfriend and they just beat both of the things they couldn't do before. In real life. They kiss with a little fear because they do not want this to be their last kiss. As soon as the words leave her mouth and their lips meet, the rain stops. They pull away and Jeongyeon's alarm goes off.

3:21am.

Nine pairs of eyes turn around to watch the road and no truck shows up.

"How did we not know it was the three words?" Jeongyeon whispers to Nayeon

"Even if we did, they wouldn't have said it like this. Or maybe they would have. Maybe this was all meant to be. Who knows?" Nayeon smiles up at her 

Instead of rain and fog and pain and a truck, there's a light coming out of the sky. It's 3:21 am. One minute passed, but the time doesn't change. The sky is still dark but there is this one circle in the sky, full of light that's reflecting onto the wet ground, immediately drying it off. The light is bright but it's not the kind of bright you can't watch. It doesn't hurt their eyes. It takes all of their pain and worries away and suddenly Dahyun's stomach doesn't hurt anymore and she doesn't feel blood in her mouth anymore. Even the song stops playing.

All nine of them intertwine their hands and after sharing a look, they make their way towards the light but they don't get into the circle.

From outside of it, they can see their families waving at them. They see Sasha and Max with their tongues out. Dahyun sees her grandparents. Jihyo doesn't see Rosé and she's glad she doesn't. She wants her to be happy, even if there is a chance the girl has someone else now. She doesn't worry that much because they're soulmates and no matter who Rosie dates, they'll find their way back to each. Dahyun's grandmother whispers "Visit your alive ones. Then come back to us". She snaps her fingers and they disappear.

Dahyun visits her parents and her brother. Her parents are currently watching a movie, holding each other. She leaves out a breath of relief when she sees her father kissing her mother's head. Her brother has a wife now and two beautiful children. A girl and a boy. The girl's name is Dahyun.

Jihyo visits their parents and sees they're still together. She watches over her sisters and sees all of them happy. Her big sisters are all married and the youngest has a boyfriend. She watches over them as they're all at the table, eating, while the youngest feeds a dog (Jihyo doesn't know it) under the table. She visits her girlfriend who is someone's wife. Someone named Lisa. She watches as Lisa kisses Rosé's temple and then drives the youngest kid to school. Rosé looks older; she's around 40 years old, and as beautiful as always. The tall girl takes a look outside and sighs. Jihyo tries to hug her from behind but she can't. Her hands go through her. Rosé shivers and murmurs "I miss you everyday". Jihyo knows it's about her.

Jeongyeon watches over her sisters. Seungyeon just came home from filming a new episode for her TV show and she kisses their other sister on the head. Jeongyeon's heart melts because the two of them weren't that close and they didn't talk a lot. Then she sees her parents and their dog, which makes her cry because she misses them so much. But, the table has more than just four people and it has another dog. Nayeon's family is having dinner with Jeongyeon's family. They look to their side and see each other, and they almost laugh at how they meet each other while looking at their parents. _Soulmates_ , Nayeon thinks and smiles. They cry together, happy tears. 

The second Chaeyoung sees her brother, she wants to ruffle his hair only to see how much shorter it is. Her brother is in a suit, with glasses and a beautiful woman next to him, with three beautiful children around them. She realizes her father is absent and her heart breaks when she hears her brother saying he won't eat too much because he also has to eat over at his father's. She watches them until her brother leaves and she sees her mother going into her old room, breaking down as soon as she sits on her bed. She can only look and cry as her mom takes some pills that help her sleep. She falls asleep in her daugther's bed.

Tzuyu cries as soon as she sees only Gucci's bowl but not the dog. She feels better, knowing they will meet again, but she'd rather have her dog with her family, taking care of them. She sees her parents eating in silence, still in silence when her mom washes the dishes and her dad cleans the table, still in silence when they go in different rooms. Still in silence when Gucci's spirit joins Tzuyu in watching over them crying alone.

Momo, Sana and Mina all meet each other while looking at their families. There are three dogs in the house, and three different families. They share the same pain and even if they were close before, their kids are so happy they are still close. Maybe even closer. Mina looks at her brother and Momo looks at her sister. They realize the three families together are so much bigger because Mina's brother has two children and Hana, Momo's sister, has three. Sana looks at her parents and whispers "it's ok to have another baby", only to realize she's been dead for 21 years. But then another member of the family opens the door and Sana knows. The ten year old girl has a sharp nose and a sharp voice and she knows. She tries to hug her baby sister, but her hands go through her. "That's a mini me" Sana thinks, tears in her eyes as she watches her mom call the young girl "Anna".

Their families go through different ways of dealing with the pain, even after all these years because it never really goes away. Most of them look happy, but the girls all see that when the night comes, they visit their children's room and there's pain and tears. There's no more sobbing or yelling, but the tears and the pain are still there.

All of them feel at peace, though. They kiss their parents, brothers and sisters and nephews. Chaeyoung kisses her mother and tells her she's waiting for her. They kiss their nephews and whisper "I can't wait to meet you, but please, don't hurry". The new dog in Jihyo's family starts barking because he feels something and his tail goes insane which makes Jihyo's youngest sister giggle. Dahyun kisses little Dahyun, Sana kisses Anna and Tzuyu kisses her parents, knowing that when their time comes, they will find peace in each other. Just like she found in Chaeyoung.

They come back to the circle of light and Tzuyu comes back with Gucci, Sana seeing her grandparents in the sky. Dahyun sees her dog there, most of them see their dogs, wiggling their tails, happy to see their parents again. Gucci steps into the circle and he vanishes, appearing in the sky.

The girls look at each other and smile; they're still holding hands.

They take a step together.

Sky that pours light, they stand under it.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing a fanfic in english which is not my first language so I'm sorry if I made any mistakes. Please be nice to me lol. 


End file.
